•  GIFT  .OF 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

OF 

HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 


Henry  Gassaway  Davis 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

OF 

HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

1823—1916 


BY 

CHARLES  M.  PEPPER 


Disce  ut  semper  victurus;  vive  ut  eras  moriturus 

Work  as  if  you  were  to  live  forever;  live  as  if 

you  were  to  die  to-morrow 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1920 


^J" 


•i 


"3 

Copyright,  1920,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 

Published,  February,  1920 


PREFACE 

The  pages  that  follow  are  the  record  of  a  remarkable 
life,  a  life  written  in  deeds.  Henry  Gassaway  Davis 
for  three-quarters  of  a  century  was  absorbed  in  the 
healthy  activities  in  which  a  constructive  mind  naturally 
found  expression.  The  romance  of  railway  building, 
the  development  of  natural  resources,  the  creation  of 
industrial  communities,  all  of  which  marked  definite 
stages  in  the  progress  of  the  country,  were  one  phase 
of  his  character.  Public  service,  political  leadership, 
citizenship  in  its  highest  sense,  were  another  aspect. 
Generations  that  came  and  went  left  him  pursuing  his 
course  with  unabated  energy. 

The  source  material  for  this  work  existed  in  a  mass 
of  contemporary  documents  relating  to  public  affairs, 
in  newspapers  and  periodicals  extending  through  more 
than  half  a  century,  and  in  a  large  volume  of  letters  and 
private  papers.  The  thanks  of  the  author  are  due  to 
the  family  for  the  access  to  these  papers  and  for  their 
assistance  in  many  ways.  Personal  association  in  the 
later  years  of  his  career  afforded  insight  into  his  char 
acter  and  the  motives  which  governed  his  business  en 
terprises  and  his  support  of  international  projects  such 
as  the  Pan-American  Railway.  All  this  material  has 
been  studied  with  a  view  to  exhibiting  his  life  and  times 
as  a  whole.  In  a  career  which  covered  so  long  and  so 
eventful  a  period  and  which  embraced  so  many  and 
varied  activities  the  most  that  can  be  done  is  to  exhibit 
it  in  outline. 


PREFACE 

Perhaps  the  reader  in  following  this  history  will  un 
derstand  why  the  life  of  Henry  Gassaway  Davis  is 
worthy  of  permanent  record.  His  broadly  human  sym 
pathies  endeared  him  to  his  fellow-countrymen,  but 
there  was  more  than  this  to  enlist  their  enduring  in 
terest.  His  was  a  many-sided  character.  In  his  early 
struggles  against  adversity,  in  his  qualities  of  initiative, 
in  his  individuality  and  self-confidence,  in  the  sentiment 
which  centered  in  the  region  that  owed  so  much  to  him 
for  the  development  of  its  resources,  in  his  habit  of  look 
ing  forward,  in  his  abiding  faith  in  the  institutions  of 
his  country,  in  his  willingness  to  do  his  part  as  a  citizen 
and  his  readiness  to  accept  political  responsibilities, 
people  saw  in  him  the  Distinctive  American.  Such  was 
Henry  Gassaway  Davis  throughout  his  long  and  honor 
able  and  useful  life.  It  is  as  such  that  these  pages  seek 
to  record  him. 

C.  M.  P. 

Washington,  January,  1920. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I  PAGB 

ANCESTRY  AND  YOUTH 3 

Leaves  from  Maryland's  Colonial  history— Two  ancient 
worthies— The  Davises  and  the  Browns— Memories  of  Good- 
fellowship  estate— Parents  of  Henry  Gassaway  Davis— Balti 
more  at  the  time  of  his  birth— The  child  who  saw  Charles 
Carroll  lay  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  railway— Epochal 
events— Baltimore  and  Ohio's  test  of  Peter  Cooper's  engine- 
Effect  of  family  reverses  on  a  carefree  lad — Earning  money 
at  the  stone  quarry— Plantation  steward  for  Governor  Howard 
— Beginning  of  railroad  career 


CHAPTER  II 
PIONEER  RAILWAY  DAYS 17 

A  brakeman  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio — Crude  methods  of 
early  days — Reasons  for  Davis's  promotion — Washington  in  the 
'40' s — Famous  passengers — Henry  Clay's  friendship — The  con 
ductor's  courtship  and  marriage — Duties  as  station  agent  at 
Piedmont — Crossing  the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies — Leaving  the 
railroad  service  for  business — General  merchandising — Coal 
and  lumber  enterprises — Establishing  a  bank — Civil  War  con 
ditions — Supplies  for  the  railway  under  difficulties — Contractor 
Davis's  interview  with  Lincoln — Extensive  land  purchases  after 
the  war 


CHAPTER  III 
EARLY  PUBLIC  LIFE 34 

West  Virginia  a  war-born  State — Davis's  belief  in  separa 
tion  from  the  Old  Dominion — Election  to  the  Legislature  as  a 
Union-Conservative — Paucity  of  lawyers — Status  of  ex-Con 
federates — Reasons  for  test  oaths  and  disfranchisement — 
Party  passions — Committee  assignments — Fiscal  subjects  and  in 
ternal  improvements — Delegate  to  Democratic  National  Con 
vention — Election  to  State  Senate— Repeal  of  test  laws — Strug 
gle  over  enfranchisement  legislation — The  debt  question — Sec 
ond  election  to  State  Senate— -Democrats  in  power — Adventures 
of  legislators  in  midwinter  journey  to  Charleston — Work  of 
the  session— Election  to  United  States  Senate 

v 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV  PAGE 

SENATOR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— FIRST  TERM     .      54 

Notable  members  of  the  Forty-second  Congress — The  Demo 
cratic  minority  in  the  Senate — Partizan  measures  and  sectional 
issues — Senator  Davis's  assignment  to  Claims  and  Appropria 
tions  committees — Speech  in  support  of  West  Virginia  war 
claims — Financial  legislation  in  the  Forty-third  Congress — 
Panic  of  1873  portrayed — Mobility  of  currency  advocated — 
President  Grant's  veto  of  the  Inflation  Bill — Resumption  of 
specie  payments — Work  as  member  of  Committee  on  Transpor 
tation  Routes — West  Virginia  waterways — Political  revolution 
gives  Democrats  a  majority  in  the  House — Forty-fourth  Con 
gress — Senator  Davis  on  treasury  accounts  and  government 
bookkeeping — National  and  State  Campaigns  of  1876 — Reelec 
tion  to  the  Senate — Support  of  Electoral  Commission 

CHAPTER  V 

SENATOR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— SECOND  TERM  .      73 

Parties  as  affected  by  President  Hayes's  Administration — 
Remonetization  of  silver — Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate 
of  the  Forty-sixth  Congress — New  colleagues — Senator  Davis 
as  chairman  of  the  Appropriations  Committee — Advocacy  of  a 
Department  of  Agriculture — Modest  provisions  for  the  farm 
ers — Camden  as  a  colleague — Treasury  accounts  again — An 
unqualified  protection  Democrat — Defense  of  the  tariff  on 
coal — West  Virginia  and  debts  of  honor — Business  reasons  for 
declining  a  third  term — Resolution  of  State  Legislature — Re 
sume  of  public  questions  during  twelve  years'  service — Growth 
of  appropriations — James  G.  Elaine's  tribute  to  Senator  Davis 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  RAILWAY  BUILDER 90 

East-and-west  trunk  lines  through  West  Virginia — Unde 
veloped  regions  between  the  north  and  south  systems — The 
Davis  projects — His  own  story  of  prospecting  trips — Early  ex 
peditions  into  the  forest  wilderness — Timber  observations- 
Exploring  unknown  coal-fields — Surveys  for  West  Virginia 
Central  Railway — Planning  the  route — Notable  statesmen  and 
capitalists  enlisted  in  the  enterprise — Horseback  trip  to  White 
Sulphur  Springs — Opening  of  the  line  in  1881 — Industrial  com 
munities  created — Contemporary  account  of  the  railway  and 
the  region  it  developed — Controversy  with  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio — Making  the  system  independent 

CHAPTER  VII 
INTERNATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES     .     ,     .    105 

Awakening  of  interest  in  the  countries  to  the  south — First 
Conference  at  Washington  in  1889-90 — Mr.  Davis  appointed  a 
delegate  by  President  Harrison — Andrew  Carnegie  a  colleague 
— Secretary  Elaine's  address  of  welcome — Organization  and 
work  of  the  Conference — International  banks  and  transporta- 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

tion— Bureau  of  American  Republics— Mr.  Davis  appointed  by 
President  McKinley  a  delegate  to  the  Mexican  Conference  in 
1901-02— His  associates— High  character  of  representatives 
from  the  other  Republics— Golden  Age  of  Mexico  under  Por- 
firio  Diaz — Personnel  of  Mexican  delegation — Tokens  of  re 
spect  for  "The  Senator" — Reasons  for  declining  to  be  the  pre 
siding  officer — Speech  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine — Important  re 
sults  achieved — Farewell  tributes  to  Mr.  Davis 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  PAN-AMERICAN  RAILWAY 121 

Intercontinental  trunk  line  the  concept  of  men  of  vision — 
Mr.  Davis's  faith  shown  at  the  first  conference — Activities 
on  the  survey  commission — Value  of  engineering  reconnais 
sances — Summary  of  the  route — Support  given  the  project  by 
the  Mexican  Conference — Creation  of  permanent  Pan-Ameri 
can  Railway  Committee — Its  work — Special  commissioner  au 
thorized  by  Congress — His  report  on  status  and  prospects  of 
the  enterprise — Chairman  Davis  analyzes  traffic  and  other  ob 
jections — Relation  to  commerce  and  national  development — 
Indorsement  by  subsequent  Congresses — Steps  to  interest  capi 
talists — Approval  by  International  High  Commission — Link 
between  Harrison  and  Wilson  administrations 


CHAPTER  IX 
POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES  AS  A  PRIVATE  CITIZEN    .     .    136 

Support  of  Senator  Bayard  in  1884 — Cleveland's  nomination 
at  Chicago — Talk  of  Mr.  Davis  for  Vice-President — He  urges 
Hendricks — Campaign  work — Visit  to  Albany — Explanation 
of  his  interest  in  Mr.  Blaine — National  Conventions  in  1888 — 
Prophecy  of  Harrison's  nomination — Mr.  Davis  declines  to  be 
a  candidate  for  Governor — Visit  to  the  President-elect  at  In 
dianapolis — Cabinet  suggestions — Campaign  of  1892 — Disrup 
tion  in  the  Democratic  party — Support  of  Bryan  and  Free 
Silver  in  1896 — West  Virginia  politics — View  of  national  election 
in  1900 

CHAPTER  X 
SOCIAL  LIFE  AT  DEER  PARK  AND  WASHNGTON   .     .    152 

Building  a  summer  home  in  the  Alleghany  wilderness — 
Glimpses  of  the  mountain  farm — Mr.  Davis's  love  of  country 
life — Sowing  oats  and  buckwheat — Shearing  the  sheep — Evolu 
tion  of  Deer  Park  into  the  summer  capital — Distinguished  visi 
tors — Senatorial  guests — Cardinal  Gibbons — Ex-President 
Grant — President  Cleveland's  honeymoon — Fishing  and  other 
incidents — President  Harrison  and  his  family — Social  side  of 
official  life  in  Washington — White  House  dinners — New  Year's 
receptions — Entertainments  for  Senator  Davis  at  the  end  of 
his  term — Residence  in  Baltimore — First  state  dinner  of  Presi 
dent  and  Mrs.  Cleveland 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XI  PAGE 

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATION  AND  AFTER    .     .    166 

State  of  the  Democratic  party  in  1904 — Revival  of  conserva 
tive  forces — Mr.  Davis  a  delegate  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention 
— Cleveland  elements  in  control — Mr.  Bryan's  fight  in  the  Plat 
form  Committee  for  silver — Compromise  by  omission — Judge 
Parker's  nomination  for  President — Mr.  Davis's  story  of  his 
own  nomination  for  Vice-President — Welcome  by  his  neighbors 
at  Elkins — Turn  given  the  campaign  by  Judge  Parker's  gold 
telegram — Objections  to  Mr.  Davis  on  the  score  of  age — Noti 
fication  at  White  Sulphur  Springs — Speech  by  John  Sharp 
Williams — Response — Campaigning  at  eighty-one — Philosophic 
acceptance  of  result — Activities  during  the  four  years  that  fol 
lowed — Urged  by  his  party  in  West  Virginia  for  various  offices 
— Reasons  for  declining — Delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Convention 
in  1912 — Support  of  Wilson  and  Marshall 

CHAPTER  XII 
BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES  AT  FOURSCORE  AND  BEYOND    185 

A  busy  man's  casual  enumeration  of  his  interests — Sale  of 
the  West  Virginia  Central  Railway — Looking  around  for  new 
fields  to  employ  capital — Imprisoned  resources  in  heart  of  the 
State — Mineral  and  timber  reserves  awaiting  an  outlet — Coal 
and  Coke  Railway  projected  by  Mr.  Davis — Route  from  Elkins 
to  Charleston — Exploring  trips  at  eighty — Progress  of  the  line 
described — First  train  when  the  builder  was  eighty-four — 
Communities  brought  into  life — Mr.  Davis  as  active  head  of 
the  railroad — Looking  after  the  traffic  and  finances — Local  de 
velopment  enterprises — Other  business  responsibilities 

CHAPTER  XIII 
WEST  VIRGINIA 4     ....    196 

Commemorating  the  half  century  of  a  war-born  State — 
Recognition  of  Henry  G.  Davis's  part  in  upbuilding  the  com 
monwealth — His  early  exposition  of  its  resources — President 
of  Board  of  Trade — Tributes  to  him  as  a  pioneer  in  develop 
ment — Head  of  Bankers'  Association — Service  on  Tax  Com 
mission — Memories  of  epochal  events — Speech  on  anniversary 
of  first  battle  at  Philippi — Semi-Centennial  Celebration  at 
Wheeling — Mr.  Davis's  modest  account  of  his  work — Golden 
Jubilee  honors  for  the  Grand  Old  Man — His  review  of  the 
moral  and  material  progress  of  West  Virginia — Promises  of 
the  future — Poetic  interpretation  of  achievement  and  aspiration 

CHAPTER  XIV 
BENEFACTIONS  AND  PHILANTHROPIES  .     .     *     .     .    210 

The  habit  of  giving — Interest  in  free  schools — Sentiment  in 
spired  by  higher  education — Permanent  endowment  for  Davis 
and  Elkins  College — Contributions  to  religious  objects — A  home 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

missionary's  illuminating  letter—Filial  sentiment  given  expres 
sion  in  church  edifice — Family  affection  exemplified  in  a  me 
morial  hospital— Failure  of  plans  for  girls'  industrial  school — 
Realization  of  similar  idea  in  Child's  Shelter — Mr.  Davis's  deep 
personal  interest  in  the  homeless  little  ones — Belief  in  organized 
Christianity — Substantial  support  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association — Eulogy  of  its  methods 


CHAPTER  XV 
FAMILY  AND  KINDRED 222 

Deeply  rooted  affections  of  Mr.  Davis — Sentiment  for  the 
ancestral  home  Goodfellowship — Recalling  the  children  of  Caleb 
Davis  and  Louisa  Brown — The  four  brothers — The  tie  between 
Henry  and  Thomas — A  brother's  tribute — Friendship  for  his 
cousin,  Arthur  P.  Gorman — Warm  eulogy  of  Senator  Elkins, 
his  son-in-law — Children  of  Henry  G.  Davis  and  Kate  Bantz 
— Marriages,  births,  and  deaths — Loss  of  eldest  son  at  sea — 
Fifty  years  of  ideal  married  life — Death  of  Mrs.  Davis — The 
final  resting-place 


CHAPTER  XVI 
FAMOUS  CONTEMPORARIES 232 

Colleagues  in  the  Senate — Thurman,  the  sturdy  oak  of  De 
mocracy — Schtirz  and  Sherman — Windom  as  Senator  and  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury — Elaine's  friendship — Bayard's  esteem — 
Qualities  in  common  with  Allison — Vice-Presidents  Wheeler 
and  Hendricks — Benjamin  Harrison's  personality — Porfirio 
Diaz  and  Mexico — A  page  from  contemporary  history — The 
Cuban  War — W.  W.  Corcoran,  the  philanthropist — Andrew 
Carnegie — Railway  men  and  events — The  great  strike  of  1877 — 
John  W.  Garrett  as  a  board  of  directors — Annual  dinners  to 
railway  presidents — Estimate  of  George  B.  Roberts  and  A.  J. 
Cassatt — George  F.  Baer — Presentation  of  urn  to  Mr.  Davis — 
Daniel  Willard  and  the  younger  generation  of  contemporaries 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SHEAF  OF  LETTERS 248 

Gleanings  from  many  contemporaries — Political  history  un 
folded  in  correspondence — Senator  Thurman's  expectations  in 
the  famous  Ohio  campaign  of  1875 — George  H.  Pendleton  on 
factional  politics — Many  communications  from  William  Win 
dom — Hopes  and  fears  in  the  tragedy  of  Garfield's  life — Com 
ment  from  Paris  on  parties  and  candidates  in  1884 — European 
travel — Indignation  over  Blaine  caricatures — Lines  from  Sam 
uel  J.  Randall  and  Augustus  H.  Garland — West  Virginia  cor 
respondents — Appreciation  from  the  two  Goffs — W.  L.  Wilson's 
ambition 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XVIII  PAGB 

MORE  LETTERS    ........ 261 

Benjamin  Harrison's  request  for  advice  on  investments — 
Grover  Cleveland's  explanation  of  a  misunderstanding — Sena 
tor  Gorman  on  prospects  and  results  in  1904 — Thomas  F.  Bay 
ard's  illuminating  correspondence — Spoils  system  responsible 
for  Garfield's  assassination— Views  on  his  own  campaign  for 
the  nomination  in  1884 — Tilden  and  the  rise  of  the  literary 
bureau — Maintenance  of  principles — Manly  comment  on  the 
Chicago  Convention — Abhorrence  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler's  labor 
movement — Tribute  to  Mr.  Davis's  work  in  developing  West 
Virginia's  resources — The  last  letter — Some  piquant  notes  from 
Andrew  Carnegie 

CHAPTER  XIX 
PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 275 

Mr.  Davis's  journal  as  an  illustration  of  his  character — Inti 
mate  record  of  half  a  century — The  observant  traveler  at 
home  and  abroad — European  trip — Shrewd  reflections  on  the 
Southern  States — Mexico  and  California — Personal  thrift  and 
business  liberality — Passion  for  order  and  detail — Faculty  of 
concentration — Making  a  bargain — High  standard  of  integrity 
— Dislike  of  speculation — In  all  things  an  individualist — Aus 
tere  home  life  mellowed — Favorite  documents  of  American  his 
tory — Fondness  for  biography — Material  for  speeches — Na 
ture's  physical  endowment — Horseback  rider  at  ninety — Capac 
ity  for  sleep — Religious  convictions 

CHAPTER  XX 
THE  CLOSING  YEARS ,     .    292 

Tranquil  activities  of  Mr.  Davis  to  the  end— Slowing  up  in 
business  affairs  not  marked — Fraternal  associations — Memories 
of  the  Order  of  Odd  Fellows — The  commemorative  jewel — No 
Ciceronian  reflections  on  Old  Age— Reforesting  the  wilderness 
for  future  generations— Anecdotes  of  contemporaries— Health 
strategy— Comment  on  public  affairs— Anniversary  tributes  to 
his  life  and  works — At  ninety-two— Last  summer  at  Elkins— 
Meditations  for  the  Railway  Builder— Winter  in  Washington- 
Journal  entries— Illness  and  death— Retrospect  of  a  long  life 

INDEX        ••-»•••*.      v.     m     r*j     r..     ra     m     K     ;w     «     r»      w     rc     v-    3°9 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Henry  Gassaway  Davis Frontispiece 


FACING 
PAGE 


Reproduction  of  daguerreotype  of  Mr.   Davis  and  his 

mother 16 

Reproduction  of  daguerreotype  of  Kate  Bantz  Davis  .      .     32 
Finance  Committee  of  West  Virginia  Legislature  ...     48 

Henry  Gassaway  Davis  in  1868 56 

Scene  on  West  Virginia  Central  Railway 72 

Finance  Committee  of  West  Virginia  Central  Railway     .    104 
U.  S.  Delegation  to  Pan-American  Conference  at  Mexico  120 

Colonel  Thomas  B.  Davis 152 

Railway  train  in  the  mountain  region — Point  Lookout     .    184 

Davis  Child's  Shelter  at  Charleston 200 

Davis  Memorial  Church  at  Elkins 232 

Davis  Memorial  Hospital  at  Elkins 232 

The  Tygart  River  at  Elkins       . 248 

Memorial  Church  at  Gassaway 260 

Graceland,  Mr.  Davis' s  home  at  Elkins 272 

Mr.  Davis  on  horseback  ,  288 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

OF 

HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

OF 

HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 


CHAPTER  I 

ANCESTRY   AND    YOUTH 

Leaves  from  Maryland's  colonial  history — Two  ancient  wor 
thies — The  Davises  and  the  Browns — Memories  of  Goodfellow- 
ship  estate — Parents  of  Henry  Gassaway  Davis — Baltimore  at  the 
time  of  his  birth — The  child  who  saw  Charles  Carroll  lay  the  cor 
ner-stone  of  the  first  railway — Epochal  events — Baltimore  and 
Ohio's  test  of  Peter  Cooper's  engine — Effect  of  family  reverses 
on  a  care- free  lad — Earning  money  at  the  stone  quarry — Planta 
tion  steward  for  Governor  Howard — Beginning  of  his  railroad 
career. 

MARYLAND'S  early  history  is  principally  a  rec 
ord  of  the  Calverts,  Lord  Barons  of  Baltimore, 
and  the  families  that  settled  in  their  Prov 
ince.  On  the  Rent  Rolls  of  the  several  Lord  Barons 
of  Baltimore  appear  the  names  of  the  forbears  of  the 
Davises  and  the  Browns,  to  be  followed  later  by  those 
identical  names.  These  families  and  their  descendants 
bore  their  part  in  the  transition  of  the  Province  from  a 
semi-feudal  proprietary  possession  to  a  democratic  col 
ony.  The  Davises  were  of  Welsh  extraction;  the 
Browns  were  of  Scotch-Irish  blood.  Two  ancient 
worthies  figure  in  the  family  records.  One  was  Colonel 
Nicholas  Greenberry,  with  whom  the  Davises  were  kin ; 

3 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  other  was  Colonel  Nicholas  Gassaway,  a  progenitor 
of  the  Browns. 

Colonel  Nicholas  Greenberry  was  Deputy  Governor 
of  the  Province  in  1692,  and  from  the  documentary  his 
tory  of  that  period  he  appears  to  have  filled  various  posi 
tions  of  responsibility,  for  the  list  of  the  official  titles  he 
bore  is  a  long  one.  From  one  document  is  disclosed  that, 
Henry  Jowles,  Esquire,  "Chiefe  Judge  in  Chancery," 
etc.,  being  afflicted  with  gout  and  other  indispositions  of 
body,  and  unable  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  office, 
Colonel  Nicholas  Greenberry  was  one  of  three  persons 
assigned  to  sit  as  Judge  in  Chancery  pending  this  indis 
position  of  the  Chiefe  Judge. 

The  Great  Seal  of  William  and  Mary,  under  date  of 
March  2,  1695,  attests  this  appointment.  Colonel 
Greenberry  performed  various  other  functions,  and,  in 
the  troublous  times  which  vexed  the  Lord  Baltimore  of 
that  day,  his  name  is  frequently  mentioned,  sometimes  as 
a  supporter  of  the  Lord  Baron,  and  sometimes  as  a 
leader  of  the  popular  element. 

Colonel  Nicholas  Gassaway  arrived  in  the  Province 
about  1650,  and  at  once  began  to  take  an  active  part 
in  its  affairs.  He  was  a  Captain  in  the  Indian  Wars, 
later  with  the  rank  of  Major,  a  Commissioner  of  Peace, 
Member  of  the  Quorum,  and  in  1690  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Twenty  which  was  formed  to  govern 
Maryland.  Captain  Thomas  Gassaway,  his  son,  was 
High  Sheriff  of  Anne  Arundel  County  from  1711  to 
1714 ;  and  a  son  of  this  Gassaway,  John  by  name,  appears 
in  1740  as  one  of  the  principal  gentlemen  belonging  to 
the  Ancient  South  River  Club,  "conveying  for  and  in 
consideration  of  the  sum  of  Eighty  Pounds"  a  half  acre 
of  land  on  which  the  club-house  was  erected. 

Colonel  Nicholas  Gassaway,  the  father  of  John,  died 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  5 

in  1730.  The  minutes  of  the  club  meeting  held  on  Feb 
ruary  14,  1750,  show  that  Henry  Gassaway  was  chair 
man.  Three  years  later  the  minutes  disclose  that  by 
resolution  Mr.  John  Gassaway  was  directed  to  provide 
a  large  punch-bowl;  so  it  is  clear  that  the  Gassaways 
continued  to  be  among  the  leading  gentlemen  of  the 
Club. 

In  the  direct  line  Henry  Gassaway  Davis  was  de 
scended  from  Thomas  Davis,  a  gentleman  of  the  City 
of  London,  of  an  ancient  Welsh  family  that  had  settled 
in  Shropshire.  Thomas  Davis  arrived  in  Maryland  late 
in  1688,  as  a  factor  for  several  large  mercantile  estab 
lishments  in  London.  He  had  a  son  Robert,  who  had  a 
son  Eli,  and  Eli  had  a  son  John,  who  was  married  to 
Sarah  Randall.  An  only  son  was  born  of  this  union, 
Caleb  Davis.  Nathan  Randall,  the  brother  of  Sarah, 
was  a  large  landowner,  and  in  his  will  he  made  his  sis 
ter's  son  the  sole  heir  to  a  tract  of  land  known  as  Good- 
fellowship,  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  extent, 
as  recorded  in  the  deed. 

This  land  appears  to  have  been  from  time  to  time  a 
common  possession  on  both  sides  of  the  family,  probably 
due  to  intermarriage  between  the  Davises  and  the 
Browns.  It  is  certain  that  the  Browns  were  large  land 
owners,  and  a  considerable  tract  was  patented  to  them 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  This  patent  extended 
over  a  considerable  section  of  the  hills  and  valleys  that 
afterward  came  to  be  known  as  Anne  Arundel  County. 
Some  of  it  was  included  in  the  purchases  of  Thomas 
Browne  (the  family  had  not  then  dropped  the  final 
vowel),  who  must  have  been  a  landowner  with  a  sense 
of  humor,  since  the  several  tracts  patented  to  him  are  in 
dicated  as  Browne's  Folly,  Browne's  Chance,  Browne's 
Adventure,  and  Browne's  Increase.  The  name  of 


6  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Joshua  Brown  is  entered  in  the  Debt  Book  of  Anne 
Arundel  County  from  1750  to  1756  as  paying  Lord 
Baltimore  quit-rent  on  one  hundred  acres  of  the  Good- 
fellowship  tract.  Later  it  appears  from  the  records  that 
John  Riggs  Brown  was  the  owner  of  this  part  of  Good- 
fellowship. 

John  Riggs  Brown  was  born  in  October,  1775,  the 
second  son  of  the  Revolutionary  patriot,  Captain  Samuel 
Brown.  In  December,  1799,  he  was  wedded  to  Sarah 
Gassaway,  the  daughter  of  Brice  J.  Gassaway  and  Kath- 
erine  Warfield.  Brice  J.  Gassaway  was  the  son  of  Nich 
olas  Gassaway  and  a  brother  of  Captain  John  Henry 
Gassaway  and  of  Lieutenant  Nicholas  Gassaway,  offi 
cers  of  the  Maryland  Line,  and  direct  descendants  of  the 
original  Colonel  Nicholas  Gassaway. 

The  Browns  occupied  and  cultivated  Goodfellowship. 
On  a  gentle  eminence  sloping  down  into  the  glades,  a 
rectangular  stone  house  had  been  built  some  time  after 
1650.  There  were  the  outbuildings  of  the  complete 
plantation,  the  granary,  the  milk-house,  the  barns,  which 
went  to  make  up  the  estate  of  a  landed  proprietor  of 
those  days.  Part  of  the  stone  house  still  stands,  though 
later  occupants  covered  it  with  concrete  and  enlarged  it 
by  a  frame  addition.  The  old  chimney  is  there,  and  the 
mantelpiece  and  a  few  other  reminders  of  the  solid 
house  furnishings  of  olden  days.  The  milk-house  re 
mains.  The  granary,  transformed  in  the  course  of  cen 
turies  into  a  big  barn,  stood  until  1918,  when  it  was  torn 
down  to  make  room  for  a  building  better  suited  to  the 
needs  of  modern  farming. 

The  issue  of  the  marriage  of  John  Riggs  Brown  and 
Sarah  Gassaway  was  a  large  family,  principally  girls. 
At  Goodfellowship,  on  the  tenth  day  of  March,  1799, 
was  born  Louisa  Warfield  Brown,  the  mother  of  Henry 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  7 

G.  Davis.  There  also  was  born  her  sister,  Elizabeth  A. 
Brown,  the  mother  of  Arthur  P.  Gorman. 

Caleb  Davis  was  born  near  Baltimore  in  March,  1792, 
the  only  son  of  John  Davis,  also  an  only  son,  and  of 
Sarah  Randall.  He  was  early  left  an  orphan,  and  was 
given  a  home  by  an  aunt.  When  the  British  expedition 
of  Lord  Ross  sailed  up  the  Potomac  and  destroyed  the 
Capitol  at  Washington,  Caleb  Davis  was  one  of  those 
who  volunteered  for  the  defense  of  Baltimore,  and  he 
served  during  the  remainder  of  the  War  of  1812. 

In  April,  1815,  Caleb  Davis  married  Sarah  Rowles, 
who  died  in  1819,  leaving  him  one  son,  Nathan  R.  Davis, 
who  died  in  boyhood.  Caleb  Davis  did  not  long  remain 
widowed.  The  family  Bible  records  that  he  was  mar 
ried  to  Louisa  Warfield  Brown  on  the  ninth  day  of 
March,  1819,  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Linthecomb.  Of 
this  union  six  children  were  born,  John  B.,  Elizabeth, 
Henry  Gassaway,  Eliza  Ann,  Thomas  B.,  and  William 
R.  The  child  that  was  named  Henry  Gassaway  was 
born  in  Baltimore  on  November  16,  1823. 

Caleb  Davis,  at  this  time,  was  an  enterprising  and 
adventurous  young  merchant,  living  part  of  the  time 
in  Baltimore  and  part  of  the  time  in  Anne  Arundel 
County  at  the  little  settlement  among  the  hills  that  was 
known  as  Woodstock.  C.  Keenan's  Baltimore  City  Di 
rectory  for  1822  and  1823  designates  him  as  "Caleb 
Davis,  grocery  and  feed  store,  283  Western  Row,  Balti 
more  Street,  d.  w.,  Paca,  W.  side  S.  of  Baltimore." 
Later  entries  up  to  1827  add  to  his  lines  of  business,  but 
apparently  he  remained  in  the  same  neighborhood.  It 
was  from  near  there  that  Barnes  and  Williamson's 
stages  left  five  times  daily  for  Washington. 

Baltimore  at  this  time  was  the  third  city  in  the  Union 
and  had  sixty-five  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was  a  port 


8  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  varied  nationalities  and  vied  with  New  York  in  the 
number  of  its  great  merchants.  Foreign  governments 
maintained  consuls  there,  and  the  Patapsco  was  filled 
with  the  ships  of  many  countries.  But  it  was  still  a  city 
in  the  making,  with  little  outward  evidence  of  the  mag 
nificent  metropolis  it  was  to  become.  When  Lafayette 
visited  it  in  1824,  the  year  following  the  birth  of  Henry 
G.  Davis,  the  Washington  Monument,  which  was  to 
give  it  the  name  of  the  Monumental  City,  was  off  in 
Howard's  Woods,  still  surrounded  by  scaffolding. 

John  H.  B.  Latrobe,  who  was  identified  with  the  his 
tory  of  Baltimore  for  more  than  half  a  century,  said 
that  on  the  left  from  the  Fort  to  Federal  Hill  the  only 
building  was  the  town  powder-house,  while  on  the  right 
it  was  no  better.  Far  off  in  the  distance,  where  the 
Philadelphia  turnpike  crossed  Loudenslager  Hill,  there 
were  some  houses.  Beyond  the  Fort  and  within  the 
harbor  proper,  were  the  pungies,  or  small  boats  used 
for  the  transport  of  wheat,  oysters,  and  wood. 

This  was  the  actual  view;  but  the  Baltimore  mer 
chants,  and  even  the  politicians  of  that  day,  had  visions 
of  the  commerce  of  the  future  which  its  situation  on  the 
Chesapeake  assured  it.  Yet  they  had  become  disquieted 
because  of  signs  that  this  commerce  might  be  lost  to 
them.  The  cause  of  their  uneasiness  was  the  building 
of  the  Erie  Canal.  It  was  feared,  and  with  reason,  that 
this  waterway  would  divert  to  New  York  the  trade  from 
over  the  mountains  which  the  city  had  previously  held. 
Another  artificial  waterway  to  serve  the  interests  of 
Baltimore  was  the  natural  thought,  and  this  thought  bore 
fruition  in  the  project  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
Canal. 

There  were  men  in  Baltimore  at  that  day  who,  while 
not  doubting  the  Canal  project,  believed  that  better 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  9 

means  could  be  developed  for  holding  the  traffic  of  the 
great  West.  They  had  heard  of  George  Stephenson's 
engine,  and  some  of  them,  the  Thomases  among  others, 
had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  have  Evan  Thomas  visit  Eng 
land  and  examine  the  Manchester  Railway  in  operation. 
A  railroad  to  the  Western  waters  thereafter  became  the 
leading  idea  of  P.  E.  Thomas,  and  with  his  associates 
he  mapped  out  a  great  national  route  to  the  Mississippi 
which  would  not  only  serve  to  fetch  the  coal  from  the 
mountains  to  the  sea,  but  also  would  transport  the  agri 
cultural  products  from  beyond  the  Ohio  to  the  Chesa 
peake  Bay  section  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company  was  the  first  char 
tered  and  fully  organized  company  in  the  United  States 
for  the  construction  of  an  extended  line  of  railroad.  It 
was  distinctively  a  Baltimore  enterprise.  Its  early  diffi 
culties  and  the  resourcefulness  of  the  men  who  projected 
and  carried  it  through — even  to  their  extravagance,  as 
it  was  then  considered,  in  offering  Louis  McLane  a  sal 
ary  of  four  thousand  dollars  to  tempt  him  from  the 
presidency  of  a  New  York  bank  to  assume  the  responsi 
bilities  of  the  railway — are  part  of  the  history  of  the  de 
velopment  of  the  country  through  transportation  enter 
prise.  They  are  referred  to  here  because  they  concern 
the  subject  of  this  biography;  for,  as  a  child,  Henry  Gass- 
away  Davis  lived  in  the  midst  of  those  epochal  events. 

On  July  4,  1828,  Caleb  Davis  took  his  entire  family 
to  witness  a  great  event.  All  the  substantial  citizens  of 
Baltimore  were  there  with  their  families,  and  the  unsub 
stantial  ones  also.  This  event  was  the  laying  of  the 
"first  stone,"  the  corner-stone,  of  what  came  to  be  his 
toric  Camden  Station,  at  the  southwest  line  of  the  city, 
for  the  new  railway  project,  and  the  address  by  the  sur 
viving  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 


io  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton.  "I  consider  this,"  said 
the  venerable  signer,  "among  the  most  important  acts 
of  my  life,  second  only  to  my  signing  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  if  even  it  be  second  to  that." 

A  child  of  five  years  was  held  on  his  father's  shoulder 
while  this  memorable  address  was  made.  Probably 
there  were  many  other  children  of  the  same  age  who 
were  held  in  the  same  way,  but  this  one  lived  to  recall 
it  after  more  than  eighty  years.  As  he  recited  the  cir 
cumstance,  the  impress  left  on  his  mind  was  that  of  "a 
big  crowd  of  people  and  a  very  old  man  making  a 
speech" ;  but  the  recollection  was  distinct,  and  the  child, 
Henry  G.  Davis,  always  had  a  good  memory  for  faces 
and  places. 

Caleb  Davis,  as  a  venturesome  merchant  alive  to  new 
opportunities,  saw  what  the  building  of  the  railway 
would  mean  to  the  Western  Shore  through  which  it  was 
to  pass.  The  line  was  to  run  along  the  narrow  valley 
of  the  Patapsco  to  Ellicott  Mills,  and  then,  following 
the  course  of  the  river,  through  Anne  Arundel  County 
and  beyond  to  Frederick.  This  would  mean  increase  in 
land  values  and  contracts  for  enterprising  men.  He 
moved  his  family  back  to  the  farm,  and  began  to  put 
up  houses  and  to  develop  some  small  factories. 

The  laying  of  the  first  stone  of  the  railway  line  was 
truly  an  epochal  event,  but  Henry  G.  Davis,  a  child  of 
five,  was  not  likely  to  appreciate  its  eventfulness,  al 
though  it  was  to  have  much  to  do  with  his  career.  An 
other  epochal  event  about  which  he  heard  his  elders  talk, 
and  concerning  which  he  preserved  some  recollections, 
was  the  test  of  motive  power.  When  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  project  was  undertaken,  the  feasibility  of  steam,  or 
rather  its  superiority  to  animal  power,  had  not  been 
fully  tested.  The  line,  or  rather  a  double  line,  was  built 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  n 

to  Relay,  and  from  there  on  to  Ellicott  Mills,  which  was 
fourteen  miles  from  Baltimore  City.  When  the  first 
division  was  opened  in  1830,  horse  and  mule  power  were 
employed.  Evan  Thomas  built  a  car  rigged  with  sails, 
which  was  fittingly  called  the  "Eolus,"  and  this  was 
tested  and  declared  to  be  a  success  on  windy  days,  but 
it  hardly  could  be  considered  seriously  as  permanent  mo 
tive  power. 

There  was  to  be  a  real  test  between  steam  power  and 
animal  power.  Peter  Cooper,  afterward  to  become 
known  for  his  business  success  and  his  great  philan 
thropies,  had  devised  an  engine  which  he  was  confident 
would  solve  the  problems  of  the  curves  and  grades  that 
made  the  engines  employed  on  the  Liverpool  and  Man 
chester  Railroad  unsuitable  for  use  in  the  United  States. 
He  was  a  stockholder  in  the  railroad  company,  and  that 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  readiness  of  the 
directors  to  let  him  try  his  little  boiler  and  engine.  In 
the  summer  of  1830  he  made  a  trial  trip  from  Baltimore 
to  Ellicott  Mills  and  back  at  a  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,  and  the  first  journey  by  steam  in  America  was  de 
clared  to  be  a  success. 

Yet  even  then  the  old  fogies  did  not  yield  readily. 
The  stage  proprietors  asked  for  a  test,  and  they  were 
given  it  on  the  parallel  tracks.  A  car  drawn  by  a  pow 
erful  gray  horse,  and  another  propelled  by  the  little 
steam  engine,  started  simultaneously.  For  a  while 
steam  seemed  to  be  winning ;  but  an  accident  to  the  band 
that  drove  the  pulley  of  the  steam  engine  put  it  out 
of  use,  and  the  horse  got  into  Baltimore  first,  to  the  de 
light  of  the  stage  owners  and  the  chagrin  of  the  cham 
pions  of  steam  power. 

But  the  feasibility  of  steam  had  been  demonstrated, 
and  Peter  Cooper's  boiler  and  engine  were  accepted  by 


ia  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  managers  as  the  basic  idea  for 
motive  power  on  the  railway  that  was  to  surmount  the 
Alleghanies.  They  developed  his  ideas  with  their  own 
mechanics  and  engineers,  and  thereafter  the  physical 
progress  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway  was  steady 
and  uniform,  although  attended  with  many  difficulties 
and  taxing  the  energies  of  the  resourceful  men  who  were 
at  the  head  of  the  enterprise.  In  the  meantime,  Ross 
Winans  was  giving  the  road  the  benefit  of  his  inventions, 
and  at  the  same  time  gaining  the  experience  which 
caused  the  Czar  of  Russia  to  intrust  to  him  the  construc 
tion  of  the  Russian  railways. 

It  was  not  within  the  recollection  of  Henry  G.  Davis 
in  his  later  years  that  these  portentous  developments 
made  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind.  He  was  a  care 
free  lad,  with  a  love  for  out-of-doors  and  a  real  liking 
for  farming,  which  was  the  principal  industry  of  this 
agricultural  region,  although  the  water-power  of  the 
Patapsco  provided  for  the  flour  mills  at  Ellicott,  and 
also  for  cotton  and  woolen  mills.  With  other  boys  of 
his  own  age  he  roamed  the  forest  and  fished  in  the 
creeks. 

One  of  his  boyhood  friends  was  John  Hambleton, 
who  lived  across  the  Patapsco  in  Baltimore  County,  and 
who  afterward  became  the  head  of  the  banking  firm  that 
bore  his  name,  and  a  director  in  the  railways  built  by 
Henry  G.  Davis.  'Possum  hunts  with  young  Hamble 
ton  were  among  the  boyhood  sports  which  he  was  wont 
to  recall.  There  was  also  Beale  Cavey,  a  farmer's 
boy  with  whom  he  played  and  worked  in  the  fields  to 
earn  a  little  money.  Many  years  afterward,  whenever 
Mr.  Davis  returned  to  Goodfellowship,  he  would  hunt 
up  Beale  Cavey;  and  after  he  had  gone,  the  old  man 
would  tell  how  they  had  worked  at  planting  corn  in  or- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  13 

der  to  obtain  spending  money,  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  rep 
resenting  the  maximum  of  their  expectations. 

All  this  time  Caleb  Davis  was  prospering,  or  seemed 
to  be  prospering;  for  his  family  lived  in  comfort,  if  not 
in  luxury,  and  had  all  that  their  wealthy  neighbors  had. 
They  lived  in  the  lavish  manner  of  the  times — the  family 
carriage  with  outrider,  ponies  for  the  boys,  and  gener 
ous  hospitality.  But  the  conditions  were  not  so  favor 
able  as  they  seemed.  The  effort  of  Caleb  Davis  to  build 
a  little  town  was  not  a  financial  success.  Like  other 
enterprising  men  of  the  day,  among  whom  was  Peter 
Gorman,  the  father  of  Arthur  Pue  Gorman,  he  had  taken 
contracts  for  grading  sections  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railway,  which  was  pushing  the  line  on  to  Fred 
erick.  Some  of  those  contractors  made  money;  others 
lost.  Among  the  latter  was  Caleb  Davis,  who  also  had 
gone  on  the  bonds  of  some  of  his  fellow  contractors. 
The  shadows  that  lengthened  into  the  panic  of  1837  were 
already  stretching  across  the  country,  and  the  region 
in  which  the  greatest  enterprise  had  been  shown,  due 
to  the  railway  construction,  was  the  first  to  feel  the 
gathering  financial  gloom.  Caleb  Davis  found  that  he 
had  undertaken  too  much.  He  might  have  maintained 
himself  alone,  but  those  for  whom  he  had  indorsed  went 
to  wreck  and  the  whole  burden  was  thrown  on  him. 

When  the  crash  came  it  was  complete.  All  of  Caleb 
Davis's  property  was  sold  to  meet  his  debts.  Thomas, 
the  younger  brother  of  Henry,  used  to  recount  how  the 
calamity  affected  their  childhood.  His  recollection  was 
of  the  sale  of  the  ponies  to  the  neighborhood  butcher, 
and  of  the  anguish  caused  him  by  the  butcher  boy  rid 
ing  by  on  his  pony  and  making  faces  at  him.  Henry 
took  the  loss  of  his  pony  with  the  stoicism  befitting  an 
elder  brother. 


14  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  business  failure  was  rendered  more  acute  by  the 
mental  infirmity  that  overtook  Caleb  Davis.  He  was 
not  only  left  incapable  of  affording  any  means  of  sup 
port  for  the  family,  but  himself  became  an  object  of 
care.  In  these  distressing  circumstances  the  Scotch- 
Irish  will  power  and  mental  force  of  his  wife  showed 
itself.  There  were  four  sons  and  a  daughter  to  care 
for  and  to  bring  up  in  a  way  that  would  be  worthy  of 
their  race  and  name.  Mrs.  Davis  did  not  shrink  from 
the  task  before  her.  Her  little  household  was  at  once 
remodeled.  She  herself  opened  a  school  for  girls,  or, 
as  it  was  called  in  those  days,  a  seminary  for  young 
ladies.  She  also  contributed  by  her  own  physical  labor 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  household,  and  even  found 
time  to  teach  the  growing  children. 

Henry  G.  Davis  was  then  in  his  fourteenth  year. 
There  were  no  free  schools  in  Maryland  in  those  days, 
and  it  had  not  been  considered  necessary  to  provide  for 
his  systematic  instruction.  Supplementing  the  home 
teaching,  he  had  received  perhaps  a  year's  actual  school 
ing.  He  had  not  been  known  as  a  studious  lad,  and 
possibly  the  prospect  of  breaking  off  his  education  did 
not  then  look  to  him  as  it  looked  in  later  years,  when  he 
was  overcoming  the  disadvantages  of  his  lack  of  earlier 
facilities.  Whatever  the  boy's  feeling,  there  was  no 
remedy.  His  great  love  for  his  mother  and  his  natural 
inclination  to  do  his  part  in  supporting  the  family  caused 
him  to  seek  employment. 

Matthew  G.  Emery,  a  New  Englander,  was  at  that 
time  working  one  of  the  Woodstock  quarries.  Years 
afterward  he  became  a  leading  capitalist  of  Washing 
ton  and  mayor  of  the  capital  city  while  Lincoln  was 
President.  When  Henry  G.  Davis  had  become  a 
United  States  Senator  and  a  railway  builder,  Emery 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  15 

told  the  circumstances  of  the  boy's  first  employment. 
One  day  a  husky  lad  came  to  him  and  asked  for  work. 
There  was  need  of  a  water-boy  to  supply  the  men. 
Emery  at  once  put  him  on  the  job.  Before  the  day  had 
passed  he  noticed  the  willingness  and  the  alertness  of 
the  lad,  who  was  everywhere  when  needed,  anticipating 
the  thirsty  men  in  their  call  for  water.  This  was  the 
characteristic  that  years  afterward  found  expression 
in  his  various  business  enterprises.  This  employment 
lasted  for  some  time.  Three  quarters  of  a  century  after 
ward  Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  it  reminiscently  as  the  first 
money  he  had  earned. 

When  there  was  no  more  work  in  the  quarry  he  took 
odd  jobs  on  neighboring  farms.  One  of  the  beautiful 
estates  on  the  Western  Shore  is  known  as  Waverly.  It 
is  not  far  from  Goodfellowship.  In  the  '30'$  it  was 
one  of  the  finest  plantations  in  all  the  region,  not  even 
second  to  Carroll's  Manor,  on  which  it  bordered.  The 
proprietor,  to  whom  it  had  descended  from  colonial 
times,  was  former  Governor  Howard,  after  whom  the 
county  that  in  1851  was  carved  out  of  Anne  Arundel 
was  named. 

Governor  Howard  knew  the  Davises,  and  he  knew 
the  Browns  better.  They  had  been  neighbors  for  a 
long  time.  He  sympathized  with  the  misfortunes  that 
had  overtaken  the  family.  One  day  he  reined  his  horse 
in  front  of  the  cottage  in  which  they  were  living,  and 
said  to  the  mother:  "Let  Henry  come  with  me.  I 
want  a  good  boy  on  my  place  and  I  know  he  will  suit 


me." 


Young  Davis  therefore  went  to  Waverly  to  live.  His 
duties  were  steadily  extended  until  he  was  virtually 
superintendent  of  the  plantation.  Three  times  each 
week  he  rode  into  Baltimore  with  the  garden  truck  that 


16  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

found  its  market  there.  He  doled  out  the  stores  for  the 
slaves,  and  he  had  a  steward's  responsibility  for  the 
accounts,  while  he  also  had  much  to  do  with  the  actual 
farm  cultivation.  The  change  in  the  family  circum 
stances,  while  hurtful  to  his  pride,  never  caused  him  to 
lose  his  self-respect ;  but  there  were  some  of  his  former 
companions  that  bore  historic  names  who  chose  to  take 
note  of  it  in  boyish  ways.  Where  formerly  there  had 
been  free  intercourse,  the  young  steward  was  now  given 
a  cool  nod  of  recognition.  Long  years  afterward  the 
bearer  of  one  of  those  historic  names  came  to  Senator 
Henry  G.  Davis  to  ask  his  aid  in  securing  some  humble 
government  employment.  Family  reverses  in  middle 
age  had  done  for  him  what  they  had  done  for  Davis  in 
boyhood.  A  place  was  found  for  him  by  his  boyhood 
companion. 

In  his  position  with  Governor  Howard  the  young 
steward  was  able  to  contribute  substantially  to  the  sup 
port  of  his  mother  and  the  younger  children,  and  even 
to  save  something  for  himself,  although  the  amount 
could  not  have  been  large.  He  continued  as  superin 
tendent  at  Waverly  until  his  twentieth  year.  Then 
came  the  change  that  was  to  mold  his  whole  future  and 
open  to  him  the  gates  of  opportunity.  This  change  was 
what,  in  these  days,  is  succinctly  called  "railroading." 


Reproduction  of  daguerreotype  of  Mr.  Davis  and  his  mother 


CHAPTER  II 

PIONEER   RAILWAY   DAYS 

A  brakeman  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio — Crude  methods  of 
early  days — Reasons  for  Davis's  promotion — Washington  in  the 
'4o's — Famous  passengers — Henry  Clay's  friendship — The  con 
ductor's  courtship  and  marriage — Duties  as  station  agent  at  Pied 
mont — Crossing  the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies — Leaving  the  rail 
road  service  for  business — General  merchandising — Coal  and  lum 
ber  enterprises — Establishing  a  bank — Civil  War  conditions — 
Supplies  for  the  railway  under  difficulties — Contractor  Davis's 
interview  with  Lincoln — Extensive  land  purchases  after  the  war. 

RAILWAY  building  in  the  second  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  a  pioneer  chapter  in 
national  development.  Naturally,  the  incidents 
connected  with  it  affected  the  local  communities  through 
which  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  line  passed.  It  also 
opened  opportunities  for  employment,  although  the  mod 
est  scale  on  which  the  construction  was  carried  forward 
did  not  call  for  a  large  number  of  men.  And  there  were 
even  doubters  and  those  who  preferred  to  stay  on  the 
farm  or  in  other  employments.  Railway  operation  in 
itself  was  crude. 

It  was  not  possible  that  Henry  G.  Davis,  living  in  the 
district  through  which  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  was 
pushing  its  lines,  should  belong  to  the  class  that  saw  no 
future  in  railway  work.  The  Washington  branch  of 
the  railroad  was  opened  in  midsummer  of  1835.  The 
line  to  Frederick  had  been  opened  nearly  four  years 
earlier,  and  in  the  boyhood  of  young  Davis  it  was  push- 

17 


i8  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ing  on  toward  Cumberland  and  the  Alleghanies.  The 
greater  part  of  the  traffic  was  over  the  Frederick  line, 
which  passed  near  to  Waverly  and  Goodf ellowship. 

From  this  circumstance  the  young  steward  of  Gov 
ernor  Howard's  plantation  came  to  know  the  men  who 
managed  the  railway.  One  of  these  was  Dr.  Woodside, 
the  superintendent,  who  was  a  friend  of  the  Davis  fam 
ily.  When  the  railway  reached  Cumberland  there  was 
a  demand  for  more  men,  and  Dr.  Woodside,  who  had 
noted  young  Davis's  interest,  offered  him  a  place  as 
brakeman.  This  was  in  1842,  when  he  was  in  his  twen 
tieth  year. 

In  the  early  '40*5  a  brakeman  was  a  person  of  marked 
responsibility  in  the  operation  of  a  railway.  There 
were  no  automatic  couplings,  no  air-brakes,  no  system 
of  telegraph  signals.  Physical  strength  and  mental 
judgment  were  prime  qualifications  for  the  brakeman. 
Young  Davis  had  both.  He  was  six  feet  tall,  all  muscle 
and  bone,  and  weighed  probably  one  hundred  and  sev 
enty-five  pounds.  He  had  an  iron  grip.  In  the  col 
loquial  railway  language  of  the  day,  the  "armstrong" 
brakeman  was  the  essential  thing,  since  the  train  had  to 
be  stopped  by  forcing  the  frictional  shoes  against  the 
wheels  by  sheer  manual  power.  Many  years  afterward, 
when  he  was  a  railway  president,  Mr.  Davis  was  wont 
to  recall  some  of  the  incidents  of  this  early  railroading 
experience. 

"We  coupled  our  freight-cars  with  bars  about  eighteen 
inches  long,  wrought  with  a  hole  in  each  end,"  he  said. 
"These  were  held  by  bolts,  one  dropping  down  through 
the  bumper  of  each  car.  Passenger-cars  were  coupled 
with  bars  of  similar  shape,  but  made  of  wood  and  hav 
ing  iron  ends.  The  wood  was  used  so  that  in  case  one 
car  should  overturn  the  coupling  would  snap  and  leave 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  19 

the  other  cars  upon  the  track.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
track  in  those  days  was  built  by  first  laying  end  to  end 
stone  sills  about  as  far  apart  as  the  gage  of  the  rails. 
Over  the  sills  were  laid  cross-ties,  and  on  top  of  these, 
parallel  to  the  sills,  there  were  laid  lengthwise  pieces  of 
yellow  pine  six  inches  wide  and  of  about  the  same  thick 
ness,  which  held  the  rails.  These  were  flat  strips  of 
iron  about  an  inch  thick  and  two  and  a  half  inches  wide. 
There  were  no  means  of  communicating  with  the  train 
after  it  started  on  its  run.  Everything  had  to  be  done 
by  the  arbitrary  schedule  of  instructions,  and  this  was  a 
pretty  tedious  business.  It  took  all  day  to  go  a  dis 
tance  that  afterward  only  required  three  or  four  hours." 
When  young  Davis  became  a  brakeman  the  daily 
traffic  requirements  of  the  railroad  were  adequately  sup 
plied  by  three  freight  trains.  These  were  run  in  sec 
tions  a  few  minutes  apart — and  rear-end  collisions  were 
ordinary  incidents  of  railway  operation.  One  day  the 
usual  rear-end  collision  caused  a  very  bad  wreck. 
While  it  was  being  cleared  away  a  passenger  train  drew 
up.  Here  is  the  rest  of  the  story  as  it  was  told  by 
Thomas  Swann,  who  was  then  president  of  the  com 
pany: 

"Before  I  took  young  Davis  from  the  freights,  one  of  our  di 
rectors  had  been  on  a  train  that  was  brought  to  a  halt  by  a  wreck 
on  the  line  between  Baltimore  and  Frederick.  He  came  to  me  and 
commended  the  energy  and  intelligence  shown  by  a  young  man  in 
removing  the  obstructions.  Everyone  on  the  train,  he  said, 
seemed  to  look  to  him  for  direction  in  clearing  away  the  wreck. 
I  thought  that  this  would  be  a  good  man  with  whom  to  begin  the 
experiment  of  promotion  from  the  ranks,  so  I  sent  for  him." 

When  young  Davis  appeared  in  President  Swann's 
office  he  made  a  very  favorable  impression,  although,  as 
he  afterward  stated,  he  was  somewhat  overawed. 


20  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Years  later  the  two  men  were  to  meet  in  public  life  under 
conditions  somewhat  reversed,  the  younger  as  a  Senator 
and  the  elder  as  a  Representative  in  Congress.  The 
promotion,  though  not  sought,  was  agreeable  to  young 
Davis,  and  while  he  continued  to  be  associated  with  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  both  as  an  employee  and 
a  contractor,  he  enjoyed  the  good  will  of  President 
Swann. 

While  serving  as  conductor  of  the  freight  train,  he 
had  a  wider  field  for  his  qualities  of  initiative.  He 
showed  them  in  many  ways,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
he  had  become  supervisor  of  the  road  between  Balti 
more  and  Cumberland,  a  position  somewhat  similar  to 
division  superintendent  of  the  present  day.  At  that 
period  no  one  had  thought  of  running  night  trains,  or 
else  no  one  had  been  willing  to  attempt  the  hazardous 
experiment,  although  there  was  much  loss  of  time  in 
the  schedule  through  laying  them  up  from  dark  to  day 
light.  Davis  suggested  to  his  superiors  that  the  trains 
could  be  run  during  the  night  as  well  as  during  the 
day.  He  was  given  the  authority  to  make  the  experi 
ment,  with  what  misgivings  was  known  only  to  the  offi 
cials  themselves. 

Supervisor  Davis  had  made  his  plans,  and  he  did  not 
intrust  carrying  them  out  to  anyone  else.  The  first 
night  train  was  to  be  run  from  Cumberland  to  Balti 
more.  A  curious  crowd,  which  included  the  skeptics 
and  the  scoffers,  gathered  at  Cumberland  when  it  was 
to  start.  The  comment  was  not  encouraging.  One  man 
was  especially  anxious  lest  harm  come  to  the  train  crew. 
"You  may  run  into  a  cow  and  throw  the  train,"  he 
said.  It  is  not  certain  that  Supervisor  Davis  knew  of 
George  Stephenson's  experience  with  the  parliamentary 
committee  which  asked  him  what  would  happen  if  his 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  21 

train  should  run  into  a  cow,  and  received  the  reply  that 
it  would  be  a  bad  thing  for  the  cow,  but  a  similar  answer 
on  his  part  would  have  been  natural  under  the  circum 
stances.  A  more  serious  suggestion  was  that  the  en 
gineer  would  not  be  able  to  see  far  enough  ahead  to 
keep  from  running  against  stones  that  rolled  down  from 
the  mountains,  for  this  was  not  an  uncommon  incident. 

The  train  moved  off  in  charge  of  young  Davis,  despite 
the  misgivings  of  the  crowd.  Frequently  it  would  be 
stopped  or  would  proceed  at  a  snail's  pace,  while  a 
brakeman  walked  ahead  with  a  lantern ;  but,  in  spite  of 
the  obstacles  that  were  met,  it  reached  its  destination 
in  safety.  Supervisor  Davis  had  solved  the  problem  of 
running  trains  at  night,  removing  what  was  then  thought 
to  be  an  important  obstacle  in  railroading.  So  far  as 
the  chronicles  of  railway  operation  disclose,  he  was  the 
first  man  to  run  night  trains. 

Mr.  Davis  served  as  a  passenger  as  well  as  a  freight 
conductor.  This  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  meeting 
many  noted  public  men  both  in  Washington  and  on  the 
line.  He  was  accustomed  to  stay  over  in  Washington, 
and  in  later  years  would  recall  some  of  the  incidents  of 
that  period,  particularly  during  Folk's  administration. 
The  national  capital  was  then  a  muddy  village,  with 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  as  the  main  thoroughfare,  and 
with  a  few  hotels  and  boarding-houses,  where  the  ma 
jority  of  the  Congressmen  lived,  at  the  foot  of  the  Capi 
tol.  On  the  south  side  of  the  Avenue,  farther  up  to 
ward  the  White  House,  between  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
streets,  the  only  building  was  a  two-story  brick  known 
as  Hancock's.  This  was  the  place  that  for  three  quar 
ters  of  a  century  was  celebrated  for  the  excellent  food 
and  a  certain  punch  that  could  be  had  there. 

Teetotalers  were  very  rare  among  public  men  in  those 


22  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

days,  and  Mr.  Davis  sometimes  told  the  story  of  seeing 
Daniel  Webster  at  Hancock's  partaking  of  the  famous 
punch.  On  the  following  day  he  was  one  of  those  who 
were  fortunate  enough  to  shoulder  his  way  into  the 
Senate  chamber  to  hear  the  great  debate  that  was  then 
going  on,  with  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  Webster  as  the  giant 
figures.  It  was  on  the  series  of  measures  known  as 
"Clay's  Compromise."  The  speech  that  Davis  heard 
Webster  make  was  the  one  in  which  the  great  expounder 
of  the  Constitution  denounced  the  abolitionists  and  de 
fended  the  fugitive  slave  law.  It  was  this  address  that 
estranged  his  New  England  supporters  and  clouded  the 
remainder  of  his  public  life.  Mr.  Davis's  recollection 
of  it  was  simply  that  it  was  a  great  speech  and  made  a 
profound  impression  on  those  who  heard  it. 

Travel  on  the  railway  by  public  men  gave  young  Davis 
an  opportunity  to  meet  some  of  those  who  came  from 
the  South  and  West.  They  would  journey  over  the 
Alleghanies  in  the  stage  to  Cumberland,  and  there  take 
the  train  for  Washington;  or  they  would  travel  from 
Washington  to  Cumberland,  and  take  the  stage  return 
ing  home.  One  of  these  famous  passengers  was  Gen 
eral  Sam  Houston,  who,  after  the  liberation  of  Texas 
from  Mexico,  served  as  President  of  the  new  republic, 
and  when  it  became  a  State  was  sent  to  Washington  as 
one  of  its  Senators.  He  was  a  picturesque  passenger, 
kindly  in  his  intercourse,  but  not  very  talkative,  accord 
ing  to  the  recollections  of  the  young  conductor. 

Henry  Clay  was  another  famous  passenger.  Davis 
came  under  the  sway  of  Clay's  magnetic  nature  as  did 
a  very  large  element  of  young  America.  Clay  was  al 
ways  amiable,  and  liked  to  talk  with  the  conductor. 
When  it  was  known  that  he  was  on  a  train,  the  people 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  23 

at  the  different  stations  would  gather  and  ask  for  a 
speech.  Clay  usually  was  ready  to  gratify  them,  and 
the  conductor  saw  to  it  that  time  was  afforded  for  him 
to  talk  to  the  people.  In  recalling  these  addresses,  Mr. 
Davis,  who  during  his  long  life  heard  almost  every 
great  orator  in  the  United  States,  some  of  whom  were 
his  colleagues  in  the  Senate,  was  wont  to  declare  that 
not  one  of  them  approached  Clay  in  the  mellowness  of 
voice,  the  charm  of  manner,  and  the  persuasiveness  ex 
hibited  by  him  in  these  way-station  talks. 

During  one  of  Clay's  trips,  Conductor  Davis  was  wit 
ness  of  an  incident  that  affected  the  Great  Commoner 
beyond  the  power  of  speech.  At  Harper's  Ferry,  when 
the  train  was  making  its  usual  stop,  it  became  known 
that  Clay  was  on  board,  and  the  people  came  to  the  sta 
tion  and  asked  him  to  address  them.  He  was  about  to 
begin  when  a  man  in  the  crowd,  pushing  himself  for 
ward,  called  out:  "Mr.  Clay,  I  want  to  tell  you  some 
thing  about  your  boy  Henry.  He  died  in  my  arms." 

The  man  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  war,  in 
which  Clay's  son  had  been  fatally  wounded  at  the  storm 
ing  of  Chapultepec. 

The  appearance  of  this  comrade  of  his  son,  and  the 
word  he  gave,  was  too  much  for  Clay.  He  threw  up 
his  hands,  reeled,  cried  out,  "My  God !"  and  as  he  sank 
into  a  seat  beckoned  the  man  to  him.  The  crowd  fell 
back  in  silent  sympathy  while  Mr.  Clay  heard  from  a 
comrade  the  story  of  his  son's  death. 

The  magnetism  of  the  Great  Commoner  cast  its  spell 
over  the  train  conductor,  who  became  one  of  his  earnest 
political  supporters.  During  a  brief  vacation  one  sea 
son,  Davis  went  to  Wheeling,  and  then  took  the  packet 
down  the  Ohio  River  and  visited  Clay  at  Ashland.  Re- 


24  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

turning,  he  became  an  active  lieutenant  of  the  Kentuck- 
ian;  but  this  fact  did  not  interfere  with  his  railway 
activities. 

Ten  years'  experience  of  this  kind  made  Davis  a  prac 
tical  railway  man  of  the  best  type.  He  knew  every 
mile  of  the  line  from  Baltimore  and  Washington  to 
Cumberland.  He  was  popular  in  the  communities 
through  which  the  railroad  ran,  and  that  was  in  itself 
an  asset  for  the  company.  He  was  liked  by  the  train 
crews,  out  of  whom,  it  was  said  at  the  time,  he  could 
get  twice  as  much  work  as  any  other  superintendent. 
He  was  an  enthusiast  on  the  resources  of  the  country 
which  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  traversed,  even  more  so 
than  some  of  the  higher  officials,  who  did  not  possess  his 
detailed  knowledge  of  lands  and  timber  and  coal  and 
all  that  goes  to  make  railway  traffic. 

His  worldly  circumstances  in  this  ten  years  had  ma 
terially  improved,  but  at  no  time  was  his  salary  large. 
As  a  freight  brakeman  his  wages  were  thirty  dollars  a 
month.  Later  they  were  advanced  to  forty  dollars,  and 
then,  when  he  became  a  conductor,  to  sixty  dollars.  He 
received  as  supervisor  one  hundred  dollars  per  month. 
It  is  a  trite  truth  that  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  a  dollar  went  much  farther  and  represented 
much  more  than  in  later  years ;  but,  with  full  allowance 
for  this  higher  value,  the  pay  of  one  hundred  dollars  a 
month  for  the  supervisor  of  the  railway  on  its  princi 
pal  division  could  not  be  considered  extravagant.  It 
was  in  proportion,  however,  to  the  salaries  of  the  higher 
officials,  which  were  modest.  Out  of  his  pay  Davis 
continued  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  his  mother 
and  the  family.  He  also  saved  something,  for  the  prin 
ciple  of  thrift  was  inherent  with  him,  and  was  the  foun 
dation  of  his  success  in  business. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  25 

Toward  the  close  of  this  ten-year  period  of  active 
railroading  there  was  another  event  which  exercised  a 
deep  influence  on  his  life.  Frederick  was  an  important 
point  on  the  railway,  and  all  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
men  from  time  to  time  made  it  their  headquarters.  It 
was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  center  of  a  very  prosperous 
agricultural  community.  One  of  the  leading  merchants 
of  the  town  was  Gideon  Bantz,  who  was  also  a  Judge 
of  the  Orphan's  Court,  and  was  familiarly  known  as 
Judge  Bantz.  The  Bantz  family  was  one  of  the  most 
substantial  ones  in  all  the  region.  There  was  a  daugh 
ter,  Katharine. 

The  handsome  young  railroader,  Davis,  met  her, 
courted  her,  and  won  her.  The  romance  was  complete, 
but  there  were  some  parental  objections,  possibly  on  the 
score  of  family  pride,  since  railroading  was  not  then 
looked  on  as  the  path  to  social  distinction.  An  obsta 
cle  of  this  kind  meant  nothing  to  the  energetic  spirit  of 
Railroader  Davis.  He  soon  won  the  family  to  his  suit, 
and  in  consequence  in  February,  1853,  Henry  Gassaway 
Davis  and  Katharine  Anne  Bantz  were  married  at  Fred 
erick,  and  a  life  companionship  began  which  lasted 
nearly  fifty  years. 

Happily  married,  Davis  began  to  plan  more  definitely 
for  the  future  and  to  seek  a  wider  field  than  was  offered 
him  as  supervisor  of  railway  operations.  He  was  then 
in  his  thirtieth  year,  at  the  apex  of  vigorous  young  man 
hood,  and  already  displayed  evidence  of  the  qualities  of 
industrial  leadership  which  later  matured.  It  happened 
that  his  desire  for  a  wider  field  corresponded  with  the 
plans  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway  directors. 

After  frequent  checks  by  the  Virginia  Legislature, 
some  of  them  of  a  political  nature  and  some  of  a  sectional 
character,  and  after  harrowing  financial  experiences,  the 


26  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

main  trunk  of  the  railway  had  reached  the  Ohio  River 
at  Wheeling.  In  reaching  the  Ohio  it  had  surmounted 
the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies,  but  there  were  still  operat 
ing  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  climbing  to  the  summit. 
The  climb  was  begun  at  Piedmont  on  the  upper  Potomac, 
where  heavy,  powerful  locomotives  were  substituted  for 
the  light  engines,  and  reached  the  crest  at  Tierra  Alta. 
Piedmont,  therefore,  became  a  very  important  central 
station  on  the  railway,  since  the  motive  power  necessary 
to  surmount  the  great  summit  dividing  the  eastern  and 
western  waters  which  took  their  source  in  the  Alle 
ghanies  had  to  be  operated  from  that  point.  The  com 
pany  had  built  what  was  described  as  a  "large  and  hand 
some  engine  house  of  circular  form,  its  walls  of  brick 
and  the  roof  of  iron,  housing  sixteen  engines,  at  a  cost 
of  twelve  thousand  dollars/' 

It  was  Mr.  Davis's  wish  to  locate  at  Piedmont  in  order 
to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  which  he  saw 
would  come  from  the  development  of  the  timber  and  coal 
resources  of  this  region.  It  was  the  wish  of  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  directors  to  have  the  right  kind  of  man 
there.  So  they  made  Davis  station  agent.  But  his 
duties  as  station  agent  were  in  reality  more  those  of  a 
division  superintendent,  since  the  responsibility  was 
placed  on  him  of  sending  the  trains  up  and  across  the 
Divide,  designating  the  engineers  and  the  train  crews, 
and  adjusting  their  labor.  It  is  part  of  the  record  of 
economical  and  tactful  railway  management  that  the 
claim  of  the  train  crews  that  a  trip  up  to  the  Divide 
should  be  considered  a  day's  work  was  disallowed  by 
Station  Agent  Davis,  and  the  trip  schedule  fixed  by  him 
was  accepted  without  a  strike. 

Piedmont,  though  in  the  heart  of  the  bituminous  coal 
region,  at  this  time  hardly  had  an  existence  as  a  commu- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  27 

nity,  since  there  were  only  eight  or  ten  frame  houses,  and 
these  of  the  most  primitive  kind.  Station  Agent  Davis 
lived  in  a  box-car  for  the  first  year,  and  then  built  a 
house,  to  which  he  brought  his  bride,  who  in  the  mean 
time  had  remained  at  Frederick.  The  estate  of  her 
father,  Judge  Bantz,  who  died  in  1854,  provided  a  sub 
stantial  sum  for  Davis's  investment. 

Davis  continued  as  station  agent  and  superintendent 
of  motive  power  for  four  years,  but  at  the  same  time 
engaged  in  private  enterprises  in  connection  with  his 
brother,  Thomas  B.  Davis.  Paying  wages  to  his  own  kin 
did  not  seem  brotherly,  and  so  Henry  G.  made  Thomas 
a  partner.  The  latter  also  had  been  a  brakeman  on  the 
railway,  but  had  left  its  employment.  The  brothers 
started  a  general  store,  and  engaged  in  what  then  was 
called  merchandising,  but  they  were  a  good  deal  more 
than  country  merchants.  Their  business  continued  to 
grow,  so  that  in  1858  the  station  agent  resigned,  and  gave 
all  his  time  to  the  several  enterprises  in  which  they  en 
gaged.  Later,  William  R.,  the  youngest  brother,  who 
had  been  educated  by  Henry  and  Thomas,  was  brought  to 
Piedmont  and  given  an  interest  in  the  busines-s,  which 
took  the  partnership  name  of  H.  G.  Davis  &  Company, 
and,  with  Henry  as  its  head,  continued  under  that  name 
for  many  years. 

H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  bought  the  products  of  the 
farmers  in  the  narrow  valley  of  Piedmont,  and  sold  them 
feed,  groceries,  dry-goods,  and  hardware  in  return ;  but 
their  principal  business  was  in  supplying  the  railway 
company  and  in  shipping  coal.  They  delivered  oil  to  the 
railway  in  barrels,  and  they  supplied  it  with  all  kinds  of 
lumber.  They  were  among  the  first  to  open  up  the  tim 
ber  resources  of  the  surrounding  country  and  uncover  its 
forest  wealth.  Their  sawmills  in  the  wilderness  were 


28  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  wonder  of  the  day.  Their  pioneer  lumber  camps 
were  models  for  that  period  and  for  later  periods.  This 
is  the  testimony  of  John  Reilly,  who  was  their  foreman, 
and  who  survived  all  the  brothers.  Their  enterprise 
made  them  widely  known. 

Banking  facilities,  during  the  middle  period  of  the 
nineteenth  century  and  earlier,  were  not  ample  in  regions 
that  were  still  in  the  pioneer  state  of  development.  In 
choate  captains  of  industry,  and  ambitious  men  who 
undertook  large  enterprises,  had  to  provide  these  facil 
ities  for  the  communities  in  which  they  operated.  It  was 
therefore  an  inevitable  sequence  of  their  merchandise 
business,  their  coal  and  timber  shipments,  and  their  rail 
way  contracts  that  H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  should  estab 
lish  a  bank.  It  was  equally  inevitable  that  H.  G.  Davis, 
as  the  most  progressive  man  in  the  region  and  the  head 
of  its  growing  business,  should  be  the  president  of  the 
institution. 

Thus  was  formed  the  Piedmont  Savings  Bank  in  the 
town  of  Piedmont  in  the  County  of  Hampshire,  in  1858, 
which  was  invested  with  all  the  rights,  powers,  and  privi 
leges  conferred  and  made  subject  to  all  the  rules,  regula 
tions,  restrictions,  and  provisions  made  and  imposed  by 
Chapters  57  and  59  of  the  Code  of  Virginia,  and  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Act  Amending  the  Tenth  Section  of  Chap 
ter  57  of  the  Code  of  Virginia.  The  bank  was  one  of 
deposit  and  discount  and  not  of  issue,  but  later  was 
changed  into  a  State  bank  and  then  into  a  national  one. 

A  printed  copy  of  the  charter  and  by-laws,  with  the 
list  of  officers,  shows  that,  besides  H.  G.  Davis,  as  the 
president,  T.  B.  Davis  and  W.  R.  Davis  were  directors, 
so  that  it  was  preeminently  a  Davis  institution.  From 
bank-book  No.  2,  in  which  was  kept  the  account  of  Mrs. 
C.  A.  Davis,  it  appears  that  when  the  deposits  were  en- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  29 

tered  the  cashier  receipted  for  them  under  the  entry. 
Business  continued  to  prosper,  while  the  head  of  the  firm 
and  bank  president,  as  an  incident  to  his  private  affairs, 
served  as  a  member  of  the  town  council. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  H.  G.  Davis  &  Com 
pany  was  the  principal  business  concern  in  the  upper 
Potomac  region.  It  also  owned  considerable  coal  and 
timber  lands,  as  yet  undeveloped.  One  of  the  earliest 
ventures  of  H.  G.  Davis,  when  station  agent,  had  been  to 
lend  fifteen  hundred  dollars  on  a  mortgage  on  some  of 
the  wild  lands  of  Georges  Creek.  The  mortgagee  de 
faulted,  and  the  impairment  of  his  capital  to  the  amount 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  was  a  serious  thing  for  H.  G. 
Davis.  His  associates  shook  their  heads  and  condoled 
with  him  on  the  loss ;  but  he,  according  to  the  tradition 
still  prevalent,  told  them  that  he  proposed  to  hold  the 
tract,  and  would  realize  at  least  one  thousand  dollars  out 
of  it.  Not  very  many  years  afterward  it  was  sold  for 
sixty  thousand  dollars. 

The  upper  Potomac  country  was  the  borderland  be 
tween  the  Union  forces  and  the  Confederates.  Hamp 
shire  County,  as  a  local  historian  narrates,  was  never 
free  from  soldiers  from  the  day  the  Ordinance  of  Seces 
sion  was  passed  by  the  Richmond  Convention  until  peace 
was  restored.  It  was  a  perpetual  battlefield.  Usually 
the  Union  forces  were  in  possession,  but  the  Confeder 
ates  made  daring  raids  and  occupied  the  various  points 
temporarily.  It  was  said  that  Romney,  the  county-seat 
of  Hampshire,  was  occupied  alternately  by  Union  forces 
and  Confederates  fifty-six  times  in  the  four  years  of 
fighting,  a  record  surpassed  only  by  Winchester,  farther 
down  the  valley.  One  half  of  the  men  in  the  county 
were  said  to  be  in  the  Confederate  army,  but  there  was  a 
strong  Union  sentiment  in  the  vicinity  of  Piedmont. 


30  JHE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

The  Davises  were  Union  men.  Once  a  Confederate 
raiding  force  swooped  down  on  the  town  with  the  de 
clared  purpose  of  carrying  off  its  leading  citizen.  When 
the  raiders  first  appeared,  the  family,  like  other  families, 
took  refuge  in  the  cellar,  but  the  head  of  it  was  off  in  the 
mountains.  The  Confederates  were  intensely  disgusted 
at  not  finding  him,  but  they  did  not  molest  the  family  be 
yond  telling  them  that  they  hoped  to  find  the  leading  cit 
izen  at  home  the  next  time  they  called. 

The  business  of  H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  of  course  was 
interrupted  by  the  activities  of  the  Confederates.  The 
bank  was  closed  in  order  that  its  funds  might  not  fall  into 
their  hands,  and  the  general  merchandising  was  more  or 
less  interfered  with;  but  the  more  serious  interruption 
was  to  the  providing  of  coal  and  lumber,  the  supplies  for 
the  soldiers,  and  the  speedy  transportation  of  Union 
troops.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  at  this  period 
was  almost  as  vital  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  as  was  the 
Union  Pacific  line  in  holding  California.  It  was  one  of 
President  Lincoln's  constant  anxieties.  There  was  no 
danger  that  the  Confederates  could  take  and  hold  a  con 
siderable  section  of  it  permanently,  but  they  could  and 
did  interfere  with  its  usefulness  to  the  Union  forces  by 
their  destructive  raids,  and  by  their  interference  with 
supplies.  Mosby's  raiders  in  particular  were  active  in 
this  kind  of  warfare. 

H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  was  equal  to  this  situation. 
Its  men  constantly  traversed  the  counties  of  Maryland, 
West  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  buying  the  horses 
which  they  supplied  to  the  Government.  They  also  acted 
as  timber  cruisers  and  selected  the  most  easily  obtained 
timber.  H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  had  large  contracts 
with  the  Baltimore  an»d  Ohio  Railroad,  as  well  as  with 
the  Government,  for  supplying  lumber  in  its  different 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  31 

forms.  The  initiative  and  energy  of  the  head  of  the 
firm  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  that  day.  No  one  could 
turn  standing  trees  into  cross-ties  and  timber  as  swiftly 
as  he.  Lumber  camps  were  established  in  the  wilder 
ness  overnight,  trams  built,  and  sawmills  set  up.  The 
firm  also  bought  the  product  of  other  -mills. 

It  was  of  greatest  importance  to  the  railway  company 
to  have  ties,  bridge  timber,  and  other  lumber  always  in 
reserve,  and  the  quality  of  anticipation  that  Davis  had 
shown  as  a  water-boy  at  the  Woodstock  quarry  was  here 
brought  out  in  its  strongest  light.  He  anticipated  every 
thing  that  could  happen.  The  prospect  that  the  company 
would  want  a  certain  quantity  of  ties  was  foreseen ;  but, 
besides  that  quantity  there  was  always  an  equal  quantity 
in  reserve  to  provide  against  emergencies  such  as  a  raid 
by  Mosby's  men. 

It  was  this  circumstance  that  brought  about  Henry  G. 
Davis's  one  interview  with  Lincoln.  As  the  war  pro 
gressed,  he  felt  that  he  should  do  something  more  than 
he  was  doing  for  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  he  proposed 
to  enlist.  He  was  then  forty  years  old.  Governor 
Swann,  who  was  charged  with  a  share  of  the  responsibil 
ity  of  maintaining  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  in  operation, 
and  who  sometimes  was  sent  for  by  Lincoln,  heard  of  his 
intention,  and  called  him  to  Baltimore.  They  went  to 
Washington  together.  Governor  Swann  took  him  to  the 
White  House,  and  explained  to  the  President  the  work 
he  was  doing,  and  how  essential  it  was  to  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  that  he  remain  where  he  was. 

In  after  years  Mr.  Davis  sometimes  spoke  of  the  im 
pression  Lincoln  made  on  him.  He  himself  was  a  man 
of  striking  physique.  He  was  an  even  six  feet  tall, 
strongly  built,  but  without  an  ounce  of  superfluous  flesh. 
"A  big  man,"  as  the  phrase  goes,  and  he  considered  him- 


32  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

self  so.  But  when  Lincoln,  after  listening  to  Governor 
Swann,  came  over  and,  placing  both  hands  on  his  shoul 
ders,  looked  down  on  him  and  called  him  "young  man," 
he  felt,  as  he  said,  that  he  wasn't  so  big  a  man  after  all. 
"Young  man,"  said  Lincoln,  "so  you  want  to  carry  a 
musket  ?  Isn't  it  better  to  carry  five  thousand  muskets  ? 
Swann  says  you  are  worth  that  many  where  you  are  now. 
I  want  you  to  stay  there." 

Davis  went  back  to  his  post,  and  continued  to  supply 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company  with  ties  and 
other  equipment  to  meet  emergencies.  When  the  war 
ended,  the  firm,  notwithstanding  some  heavy  losses,  had 
made  substantial  profits  and  had  accumulated  consider 
able  capital,  most  of  which  was  due  to  Henry  G.  Davis. 
This  capital  afforded  the  means  of  carrying  out  the 
larger  plans  that  he  long  had  had  in  mind,  and  which 
were  based  on  his  implicit  faith  in  the  resources  of  the 
upper  Potomac  region.  Though  the  youngest  brother 
opposed  it  and  would  not  invest  a  dollar  in  the  purchase 
of  lands,  H.  G.  Davis  &  Company  bought  several  thou 
sand  acres  of  fine  timberlands  in  the  wild  Cheat  River 
country,  at  the  summit  of  the  Alleghanies,  most  of  them 
in  Garrett  County,  Maryland. 

These  lands  were  part  of  what  had  once  been  one  of 
the  largest  private  estates  in  the  world,  the  six  million 
acres  that  had  comprised  the  property  of  Thomas,  Sixth 
Lord  Fairfax,  the  owner  of  the  Northern  Neck  in  Vir 
ginia.  The  boundaries  of  some  of  them  ran  from  Fair 
fax  Stone,  in  the  corner  of  West  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
which  for  more  than  a  century  had  been  a  subject  of  con 
tention  between  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Several  of  the 
maps  describing  metes  and  boundaries  of  the  tracts  pur 
chased  bore  the  initials  of  George  Washington  as  sur 
veyor.  This  forest  wilderness  had  an  assured  value  as 


••iMK 
Reproduction  of  daguerreotype  of  Kate  Bantz  Davis 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  33 

timberland,  although  few  men  had  the  courage  to  make 
large  investments  in  it.  What  wealth  of  coal  might 
underlie  it,  no  one  could  guess.  Its  development  was  to 
signalize  the  constructive  capacity  of  Henry  G.  Davis 
and  to  form  a  leading  chapter  in  his  career  as  a  railway 
builder  following  a  period  of  public  service. 


CHAPTER  III 

EARLY   PUBLIC   LIFE 

West  Virginia  a  war-born  State — Davis's  belief  in  separation 
from  the  Old  Dominion — Election  to  the  Legislature  as  a  Union- 
Conservative — Paucity  of  lawyers — Status  of  ex-Confederates — 
Reasons  for  test  oaths  and  disfranchisement — Party  passions — 
Committee  assignments — Fiscal  subjects  and  internal  improve 
ments — Delegate  to  Democratic  National  Convention — Election  to 
State  Senate — Repeal  of  test  laws — Struggle  over  enfranchise 
ment  legislation — The  debt  question — Second  election  to  State 
Senate — Democrats  in  power — Adventures  of  legislators  in  mid 
winter  journey  to  Charleston — Work  of  the  session — Election  to 
United  States  Senate. 

THE  early  public  life  of  Henry  G.  Davis  was  con 
temporaneous  with  the  early  years  of  the  com 
monwealth  with  which  he  was  identified  for  more 
than  half  a  century.     When  he  entered  politics  West 
Virginia  was  still  a  State  in  the  making.     The  frame 
work  of  government  had  been  set  up  and  its  functions 
performed  during  the  closing  years  of  the  Civil  War. 
But  there  had  been  little  done,  because  in  the  midst  of 
war  there  could  be  little  done,  to  perfect  the  organization 
that  was  to  endure  for  all  time. 

The  new  State  had  been  a  battle  camp  over  parts  of 
which  contending  armies  fought,  while  its  citizenship  had 
been  divided.  Its  people  had  separated  from  the  Old 
Dominion  on  the  great  issue  of  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  but  some  of  them  had  been  sympathetic  to  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy.  Once  the  vital  issue  of  the 

34 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  35 

Union  was  settled,  it  was  inevitable  that  there  should  be 
a  reaction  from  the  passions  evoked  by  the  great  strug 
gle,  and  that  many  of  those  who  had  been  instrumental 
in  the  formation  of  the  new  commonwealth  should  find 
themselves  out  of  sympathy  with  their  former  associates 
who  still  favored  extreme  measures.  This  was  the 
natural  swinging  of  the  pendulum  from  radicalism  to 
conservatism. 

The  moderation  that  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Davis 
was  certain  to  place  him  in  the  ranks  of  the  conservatives. 
A  strong  Union  man  throughout  the  war,  he  was  equally 
strong  in  advocating  conciliation  after  the  war.  The 
abuse  possible  in  the  application  of  the  stringent  laws 
passed  to  insure  the  control  of  the  Government  by  those 
loyal  to  the  Union,  and  the  bitterness  engendered  through 
partizanship,  were  brought  directly  home  to  him  when,  at 
one  election,  through  personal  animosity,  his  own  name 
was  stricken  from  the  voters'  registration  list.  If  the 
law  could  be  so  abused  in  his  own  case,  he  realized  how 
widespread  might  be  its  abuse  in  the  case  of  others. 

While  the  trend  of  his  political  action  undoubtedly  was 
influenced  by  this  incident,  there  was  not  the  remotest 
suggestion  of  sympathy  with  those  who  were  seeking  to 
undo  the  work  of  the  men  who  had  formed  the  State  of 
West  Virginia,  and  were  working  to  secure  the  reincor- 
poration  of  the  new  commonwealth  with  old  Virginia. 
He  recognized  that  the  northwestern  and  the  eastern 
sections  of  the  Old  Dominion  were  separated  geograph 
ically  by  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghanies.  He  fully 
understood  the  difference  in  sentiment  and  interest  be 
tween  the  people  west  and  the  people  east  of  the  Alle 
ghanies.  With  his  faith  in  the  industrial  future  of  the 
western  section,  and  the  necessity  of  constructive  meas 
ures  for  developing  its  great  natural  resources,  he  knew 


36  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

that  the  control  which  the  old-school  politicians  of  the 
tidewater  region  had  exercised  for  three  quarters  of  a 
century  must  end,  and  he  was  not  the  man  to  be  influ 
enced  by  sentimental  pleas  when  that  sentiment  was  made 
the  cover  for  the  continued  aggrandizement  of  one  sec 
tion  at  the  expense  of  another  section. 

This  feeling  was  reflected  in  a  speech  made  by  Daniel 
Lamb  at  the  Wheeling  Convention  in  1861,  when  the 
ordinance  for  the  formation  of  the  new  State  was  under 
discussion.  "We  are,"  said  Mr.  Lamb,  "in  fact  a  differ 
ent  people.  Our  social  habits  are  different.  Our  com 
mercial  relations  are  not  with  eastern  Virginia.  The 
productions  of  our  soil  and  of  our  workshop  do  not  go  in 
that  direction,  nor  do  we  purchase  the  articles  we  want 
from  the  cities  of  eastern  Virginia.  Every  considera 
tion  which  can  be  addressed  to  the  wisdom  of  statesmen 
would  demand  a  separation  at  the  proper  time  and  in  the 
proper  manner/' 

This  was  the  conviction  of  Mr.  Davis  also,  and  it  was 
made  manifest  in  his  opposition  to  all  attempts  to  undo 
the  new  commonwealth.  This  is  of  some  importance, 
because  his  political  course  in  these  early  years  lay  with 
those  who  to  some  extent  were  sympathetic  to  the  Old 
Dominion. 

In  the  autumn  of  1865  Mr.  Davis  was  elected  from 
Hampshire  County  to  the  Legislature  as  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Delegates  as  a  Union-Conservative.  This  was 
within  six  months  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  The 
term  "Union-Conservative"  itself  describes  the  political 
conditions  which  existed  at  that  period. 

The  Fourth  Legislature,  as  it  was  called,  since  annual 
sessions  were  held,  met  at  Wheeling  in  January,  1866. 
This  Legislature  was  a  very  remarkable  body,  remark 
able  in  one  respect  for  the  small  number  of  lawyers  that 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  37 

it  contained.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  legislative  as 
sembly  among  the  several  States  ever  had  so  small  a  per 
centage  of  the  legal  profession.  In  the  Senate,  which 
was  composed  of  nineteen  members,  there  were  three 
lawyers.  In  the  House,  among  the  fifty-two  members, 
there  was  only  one  lawyer,  Mr.  Henry  Clay  McWhorter, 
afterward  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  There  were 
twenty  farmers,  twelve  merchants,  one  of  whom  was 
Henry  G.  Davis ;  two  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  four  phy 
sicians;  one  banker,  one  teacher,  one  clerk;  and  seven 
mechanics,  who  described  themselves  as  millwrights, 
blacksmiths,  wheelwrights,  and  ironmasters.  The  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary  had  the  lawyer  for  its  chairman, 
while  the  other  members  were  a  merchant,  a  farmer,  a 
banker,  and  a  clerk. 

The  membership  of  the  Legislature  was  typical  of  the 
new  State.  The  communities  were  isolated,  for  the  era 
of  railway  communication  was  in  its  early  stages. 
Farming  was  still  the  principal  occupation  of  the  people, 
since  the  industrial  development,  except  along  the  Ohio 
River,  had  barely  begun.  The  members  were  truly  rep 
resentative  of  the  self-contained,  virile,  rugged  people 
who  elected  them.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  processes 
of  law-making  at  this  period  suffered  from  the  small 
number  of  members  of  the  legal  profession  who  took 
part  in  it. 

Two  fundamental  subjects,  somewhat  antagonistic  in 
their  nature,  confronted  this  Legislature.  One  was  the 
political  issues  growing  out  of  the  Civil  War;  the  other 
was  the  constructive  measures  of  taxation,  finance,  ad 
ministrative  organization,  industrial  development,  and 
internal  improvement  which  were  vital  to  the  new  com 
monwealth  in  solving  the  problem  of  continued  existence. 
Mr.  Davis,  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates,  took 


38  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  prominent  part  in  the  discussion  of  both  subjects.  Gov 
ernor  Boreman,  in  his  message,  said  that  permanent  civil 
organization  had  been  restored  in  all  but  five  or  six  east 
ern  counties.  He  recited  the  efforts  of  the  ex-Confed 
erates  and  their  sympathizers  in  several  of  the  counties 
to  elect  to  office  persons  who  were  ineligible  under  the 
Constitution  of  1863  and  the  laws  enacted  to  make  it 
effective. 

These  laws  included  test  oaths  for  teachers,  attorneys, 
jurors,  voters,  and  all  officials.  There  were  also  statutes 
under  which  ex-Confederates  could  be  sued  for  damages 
done  to  the  property  of  loyalists  by  the  military  com 
mands  under  which  they  served,  and  a  law  to  prevent 
the  prosecution  of  civil  suits  against  loyalists  by  persons 
who  had  been  engaged  in  the  Rebellion. 

This  statute,  the  Governor  declared,  was  of  doubtful 
expediency.  He  recommended  amendments  to  the  elec 
tion  laws  under  which  the  Governor  would  be  authorized 
to  appoint  county  registration  boards,  with  power  to  des 
ignate  the  township  registers,  and  to  act  as  the  court  of 
last  appeal  in  all  election  and  voting  contests.  The  pur 
pose  of  this  recommendation  was  to  prevent  the  ex-Con 
federates  and  their  sympathizers  in  sections  where  they 
had  the  numerical  superiority,  controlling  the  voting  and 
thus  electing  to  office  candidates  who,  under  the  Consti 
tution  of  1863  and  the  subsequent  laws,  were  ineligible. 

There  was  much  partizan  discussion  in  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature  over  this  subject,  in  which  the  passions 
of  the  Civil  War,  still  heated,  flamed  out.  Mr.  Davis 
took  part  in  the  discussion,  and,  as  a  Union-Conservative 
member,  opposed  the  test  oaths  in  all  their  forms,  and 
voted  against  the  further  restrictions  on  suffrage  which 
were  proposed.  It  was,  however,  in  the  discussion  of 
measures  of  a  non-political  character,  and  in  the  work  of 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  39 

the  committees,  that  his  qualities  of  constructive  leader 
ship  showed  themselves.  The  principal  committee  on 
which  he  served  was  that  on  Taxation  and  Finance.  It 
had  not  only  to  provide  for  the  appropriation's  for  the 
State  government,  but  also  to  devise  the  measures  of 
taxation,  and  to  formulate  much  of  the  fiscal  legislation 
essential  to  the  functions  of  the  new  commonwealth. 

Nathan  GofT,  Sr.,  of  Clarksburg,  was  chairman  of  this 
committee.  He  was  a  man  of  great  influence  through 
out  the  State  and  had  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all 
parties.  He  quickly  recognized  the  value  of  Mr.  Davis's 
business  experience  and  sound  judgment  in  dealing  with 
all  these  subjects.  They  worked  together  in  complete 
harmony,  and  a  strong  personal  friendship  sprang  up 
between  them.  Subsequently  Mr.  GofFs  nephew,  Nathan 
GofT,  Jr.,  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  with  him, 
too,  Mr.  Davis  maintained  a  warm  friendship.  Years 
afterward,  when  President  Hayes  nominated  Nathan 
Goff,  Jr.,  for  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  it  was  the  privilege 
of  Mr.  Davis,  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  to  move 
his  confirmation. 

In  addition  to  his  work  in  providing  for  the  fiscal  or 
ganization,  Mr.  Davis  took  a  leading  part  in  bringing  to 
a  head  various  projects  of  internal  improvements  which 
were  of  great  consequence  to  the  State.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee  on  Roads  and  Internal  Navigation. 
The  improvement  of  the  turnpikes  received  much  atten 
tion  from  this  committee,  but  its  labors  also  embraced 
the  larger  subjects  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Canal  and  the  railway  enterprises  which  were  deemed 
worthy  of  encouragement  as  a  means  of  developing  the 
State.  Among  the  transportation  lines  which,  by  the 
action  of  the  Legislature,  received  a  charter,  was  the 
Potomac  and  Piedmont  Coal  and  Railroad  Company, 


40  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

which,  years  later,  was  to  become  the  basis  of  Mr. 
Davis's  most  important  railway  enterprise. 

At  this  session  Mr.  Davis  introduced  and  had  passed 
the  bill  creating  Mineral  County  out  of  Hampshire 
County.  Thereafter  his  citizenship  was  in  Mineral 
County  instead  of  Hampshire. 

The  first  year's  experience  as  a  State  legislator  had 
been  very  valuable  to  Mr.  Davis.  It  had  enabled  him  to 
form  the  close  personal  acquaintanceship  of  men  from  all 
sections.  It  had  brought  him  in  direct  contact  with 
many  local  political  leaders  who  found  themselves  look 
ing  to  him  for  advice.  It  was  the  first  step  in  the  polit 
ical  leadership  of  the  State  which,  in  after  years,  fell  to 
him. 

Mr.  Davi-s  did  not  seek  reelection  to  the  House  of  Dele 
gates.  Business  affairs  occupied  much  of  his  time,  and 
apparently  he  wanted  a  few  months  free  from  official 
responsibility.  But  that  he  had  not  lost  his  interest  in 
politics  was  made  apparent  early  in  1868,  when  he  an 
nounced  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  State  Senate. 
The  result  is  given  in  a  brief  entry  in  his  journal : 

May  20,  1868.  J.  S.  Vance  and  J.  W.  Key,  candidates  for 
House  of  Delegates.  Vance  nominated.  H.  G.  Davis,  myself, 
nominated  unanimously  for  Senate.  Colonel  J.  N.  Camden,  Wil 
son,  Johnston,  present.  A  large  meeting. 

Another  indication  of  political  influence,  and  also  of 
the  alinement  of  parties,  was  given  about  the  same  time, 
when  Mr.  Davis  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic 
National  Convention  at  New  York  City.  It  was  no 
longer  a  question  of  Union-Conservatives  and  Radicals, 
but  of  Democrats  and  Republicans.  He  attended  the 
convention  at  which  Seymour  and  Blair  were  nominated, 
and  for  the  first  time  met  members  of  the  Democratic 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  41 

party  who  were  national  leaders.  With  several  of  these 
he  was  to  occupy  important  relations  in  later  years. 

The  question  of  suffrage  and  the  disf ranchisement  of 
ex-Confederates  were  the  leading  issues  of  the  State 
campaign  in  I868.1  The  radical  wing  of  the  Republican 
party,  which  was  in  control  of  the  organization,  advo 
cated  further  legislation,  claiming  that  this  was  neces 
sary  because  of  the  disorders  in  the  southern  counties, 
where  some  of  the  ex-Confederates  were  charged  with 
lawless  acts.  The  great  body  of  ex-Confederates  had 
returned  peacefully  to  their  homes,  and  were  doing  their 
share  toward  the  upbuilding  of  the  State.  To  them  it 
was  a  burning  wrong  that  they  should  be  denied  the 
privileges  of  citizenship,  since  they  had  accepted  in  good 
faith  the  result  of  the  war.  A  moderate  element  among 
the  Republicans  took  this  view,  and  it  was  to  them  that 
Mr.  Davis,  because  of  his  conservatism,  appealed  for 
support. 

In  the  campaign  throughout  the  State  those  who  ad 
vocated  greater  liberality  toward  ex-Confederates  were 
described  as  "Let-Ups."  This  colloquial  designation  re 
flected  very  accurately  the  dominant  political  issue.  The 

1  At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1865,  an  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution  was  proposed,  which  was  afterward  adopted,  providing  in  effect 
that  no  person  who  had  participated  in  the  Rebellion,  or  given  aid  or 
comfort  to  the  Confederacy,  should  be  deemed  a  citizen  of  the  State  or 
allowed  to  vote  at  any  election.  Statutes  were  passed  requiring  attor- 
neys-at-law,  teachers,  jurors,  voters,  and  all  officers  to  make  oath  that 
they  had  not  since  June  20,  1863,  borne  arms  against  the  United  States 
or  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  or  voluntarily  given  aid  and  comfort  to 
persons  engaged  in  armed  hostility  thereto.  The  defendant  in  any  suit 
could  require  the  plaintiff  to  take  such  an  oath.  The  statute  also  pro 
vided  that  no  suit  should  be  maintained  against  any  person  for  acts  done 
in  the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion.  The  courts  further  held  that  suits 
might  be  maintained  by  loyal  persons  against  those  who  had  been  in  the 
Confederate  army  for  injuries  done  by  the  said  army.  Under  this  statute 
there  were  some  actions  of  trespass  maintained,  and  judgments  given 
against  returned  ex-Confederates. 


42  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

question  to  be  decided  was  whether  or  not  the  State  in  its 
political  functions  should  "let  up"  on  those  who  had  been 
Confederates  or  who  had  shown  themselves  as  sympa 
thizers  with  the  Confederacy. 

Mr.  Davis  made  an  active  campaign  in  his  district. 
Some  of  the  incidents  are  briefly  described  in  the  itiner 
ary  which  his  journal  sets  forth.  This  is  one  of  several 
entries  of  a  similar  character : 

September  14.  I  go  to  Berkeley  Springs  to  attend  a  meeting. 
It  was  the  first  day  of  Court.  Many  people  there.  Governor 
Green,  Clay  Smith,  and  Judge  Moore  of  Kentucky  spoke  with 
good  effect. 

The  successful  outcome  of  his  canvass  is  tersely  in 
dicated  in  this  manner : 

October  30.  Returns  in;  elected  by  66  majority.  Piedmont 
gives  State  ticket  63  majority;  me  135. 

Though  the  Democrats  had  made  gains,  they  were  still 
in  the  minority  in  the  Legislature,  which  met  at  Wheel 
ing  in  January,  1869.  The  number  of  lawyers  had  been 
increased  slightly  in  the  two  years  since  Mr.  Davis  had 
served  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates.  He  now 
had  four  lawyer  colleagues  in  the  Senate. 

Governor  Boreman,  in  his  message,  reviewed  the  po 
litical  and  fiscal  conditions  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
State  had  been  organized,  he  said,  a  little  short  of  six 
years,  created  in  the  midst  of  civil  strife  during  the  terri 
ble  struggle  for  nationality  and  the  principles  underlying 
free  institutions.  This  was  the  dominant  note  of  the 
Republican  majority  in  maintaining  its  position  in  regard 
to  the  suffrage.  Governor  Boreman  resigned  at  this 
session,  and  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  43 

He  was  succeeded  by  William  E.  Stevenson,  who  had 
served  in  the  State  Senate  for  several  terms. 

Governor  Stevenson  reflected  the  attitude  of  the  more 
liberal  members  of  his  party,  although  he  insisted  on  the 
necessity  of  continuing  some  of  the  restrictive  measures. 
He  recommended  the  repeal  of  the  attorneys*  and  teach 
ers'  test  oaths,  while  he  questioned  the  wisdom  of  the 
further  continuance  of  what  was  known  as  the  suitor's 
oath  in  law  cases.  He  also  favored  the  amendment  re 
storing  citizenship  to  the  disfranchised.  The  restrictive 
measures,  he  said,  had  not  originated  in  a  vindictive 
spirit.  "They  were  adopted  during  a  time  of  great  pub 
lic  peril.  They  were  prompted  by  that  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  which  impels  every  community  to  shield  it 
self  from  present  or  impending  danger.  .  .  .  These  dis 
abilities  were  not,  however,  intended  to  be  perpetual,  but 
only  to  remain  in  force  until  all  danger  to  the  public  peace 
was  passed." 

The  majority,  however,  were  still  very  determined  in 
demanding  the  most  thorough  proofs  of  reconstruction 
on  the  part  of  those  who  sought  to  be  restored  to  citizen 
ship.  A  joint  resolution  was  passed  that  the  petition  of 
any  person  would  not  be  favorably  considered  except 
such  petition  should  be  accompanied  by  a  written  renun 
ciation  of  former  wrongs  and  an  acknowledgment  of 
errrors,  discarding  the  false  dogmas  of  exclusive  States' 
rights  sovereignty. 

The  legislative  record  of  this  period  discloses  several 
instances  of  the  manner  in  which  those  who  were  seeking 
to  exercise  the  full  rights  of  citizenship  were  compelled 
to  make  their  acknowledgment  of  loyalty.  A  single  il 
lustration,  which  appears  in  the  bill  authorizing  Leonard 
S.  Hall,  of  Weitzel  County,  to  practise  law  in  the  courts 


44  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  State,  suffices.  The  bill,  which  was  passed  by  a 
vote  of  14  to  5  in  the  Senate,  and  which  numbered  Henry 
G.  Davis  among  those  who  voted  in  the  affirmative,  was 
accompanied  by  the  following  letter : 

Wheeling,  W.  Va., 

January  26,  1869. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Legislature  of  West  Virginia — 

I  respectfully  ask  you  to  permit  me  to  practise  law  in  this 
State  without  taking  the  attorney's  test  eath.  I  cannot  take  said 
oath  from  the  fact  that  I  was  in  Richmond,  Va.,  at  the  time  of  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  although  I  was  never  in  armed  hostil 
ity  against  the  United  States,  yet  I  adhered  to  the  Confederate 
States,  which  I  confess  was  wrong  and  the  great  mistake  of  my 
life.  I  subscribe  to  the  terms  of  your  resolution  of  June  8,  1868, 
a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  filed,  and  I  promise  to  faithfully  obey 
your  laws  and  conduct  myself  as  a  good  citizen. 

Yours  respectfully, 

L.  S.  HALL. 

At  this  session  Senator  Davis  presented  numerous 
petitions  of  citizens  in  his  district  asking  for  the  repeal 
of  all  the  test  oaths,  and  for  modification  of  the  registra 
tion  act.  He  was  active  in  urging  this  legislation,  and 
equally  active  in  opposing  everything  that  looked  to  fur 
ther  restriction  of  the  white  suffrage.  He  also  strength 
ened  himself  politically  with  a  large  element  in  the  State 
by  his  opposition  to  the  ratification  of  the  amendment  to 
the  Federal  Constitution  providing  for  negro  suffrage. 
Independently  of  the  passing  politics  of  the  hour,  he 
viewed  the  conferring  of  the  ballot  on  the  negroes  as  a 
grave  mistake.  As  a  partizan  manoeuver  he  gave  the 
Republican  majority  some  discomfort  by  moving  to  have 
the  ratification  of  the  amendment  referred  to  the  people 
of  the  State  for  acceptance  or  rejection.  His  motion 
was  defeated,  and  the  Legislature  ratified  the  amend- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  45 

ment ;  but  his  action  undoubtedly  strengthened  the  Demo 
cratic  party  throughout  the  State. 

While  these  political  questions  received  much  atten 
tion  and  gave  Mr.  Davis  increasing  prominence  as  a 
party  leader,  he  found  a  much  more  congenial  field  in  the 
measures  of  constructive  legislation.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Committee  on  Finance  and  Claims,  Internal  Im 
provements  and  Navigation,  and  Auditing  Accounts. 
Serving  on  them,  he  was  enabled  to  supplement  and 
develop  many  of  the  measures  that  had  received  his 
support  when  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates. 

Adjustment  of  the  debt  between  Virginia  and  West 
Virginia  was  one  of  the  subjects  that  claimed  his  atten 
tion,  and  from  the  beginning  he  took  a  definite  position 
on  this  vexed  question.  His  position  in  substance  was 
that  West  Virginia  should  pay  a  just  share  of  the  debt, 
but  that  it  must  first  be  ascertained  what  a  just  share 
was.  He  favored  the  various  propositions  for  commis 
sioners  to  confer  with  commissioners  from  the  State  of 
Virginia,  and  was  himself  the  author  of  one  of  the  reso 
lutions  providing  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners. 
In  whatever  he  had  to  say  on  the  subject  during  the  dis 
cussions  in  the  Legislature,  he  never  accepted  the  as 
sumption  made  by  Virginia  that  West  Virginia  should 
pay  one  third  of  the  debt. 

The  question  was  postponed  because  the  suit  of  Vir 
ginia  to  cause  the  reincorporation  of  Jefferson  and  Berk 
eley  counties  with  it  was  still  pending  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  Later,  when  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  United  States  Senate,  Mr.  Davis  reviewed  the 
whole  debt  question  from  the  standpoint  of  West  Vir 
ginia  in  vindication  of  the  stand  he  himself  had  taken 
and  maintained. 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  steps  were  taken  for 


46  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

appropriating  proper  funds  for  buildings  to  house  the 
public  institutions.  The  public  school  system  was  placed 
on  a  firm  foundation,  and  numerous  new  schools  were 
created.  A  significant  step  in  higher  education  was 
taken  when  the  Agricultural  College  at  Morgantown  was 
changed  to  the  West  Virginia  University.  This  was  the 
birth  of  the  present  great  State  University,  which  is  so 
thoroughly  representative  of  West  Virginia's  interest  in 
higher  education.  Mr.  Davis  concurred  in  all  these 
measures.  His  name  also  frequently  appears  in  connec 
tion  with  the  bills  relating  to  internal  improvements  and 
provisions  for  developing  the  great  natural  wealth  of  the 
State. 

Mr.  Davis's  second  year  in  the  State  Senate  was 
marked  by  the  ending  of  the  political  controversy  over 
the  disfranchising  of  ex-Confederates.  The  liberal  ele 
ment  in  the  Republican  party  had  made  its  influence  felt, 
and,  moreover,  the  passions  engendered  by  the  Civil  War 
had  begun  to  die  out.  Governor  Stevenson  in  his  mes 
sage,  while  insisting  that  a  proper  respect  for  the  laws 
under  which  they  lived  and  a  satisfactory  assurance  of 
peaceful  intentions  in  the  future  should  be  required  from 
the  ex-Confederates,  nevertheless  recommended  the  re 
peal  of  the  test  oaths  and  the  adoption  of  an  amendment 
restoring  the  privileges  of  those  who  were  disfranchised. 
This  recommendation  was  embodied  in  what  was  known 
as  the  Flick  amendment.  Bills  were  passed  repealing 
the  test  oaths  and  also  adopting  the  amendment. 

When  this  Legislature  adjourned,  Mr.  Davis  was 
awarded  much  credit  throughout  the  State  for  the  legis 
lation  restoring  the  franchise  to  those  who  had  been  dis 
qualified.  Notwithstanding  that  his  business  affairs 
were  pressing,  he  still  gave  a  large  part  of  his  time  to 
politics.  He  was  renominated  for  the  State  Senate. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  47 

His  opponent  was  W.  H.  H.  Flick,  the  author  of  the  en 
franchising  amendment. 

Entries  in  his  journal  show  the  activities  of  that  year 
and  reflect  the  political  tendencies.  Some  of  them  fol 
low  : 

May  21.  I  was  at  New  Creek  to  attend  a  Democratic  and  Con 
servative  convention. 

June  6.  I  start  to  Democratic-Conservative  convention  at 
Charleston. 

June  10.  Return  from  convention.  Had  a  pleasant  trip. 
Nominated  J.  J.  Jacobs,  of  Hampshire  County,  for  Governor. 
Col.  Camden  declined. 

June  12.  Republicans  held  their  State  conventions  at  Parkers- 
burg  yesterday.  Nominated  nearly  all  the  prominent  State  offi 
cers. 

July  21.  Returned  from  Moorefield  Senate  convention.  A 
large  number  of  persons  from  several  counties  were  there.  Our 
candidate  for  Governor,  J.  J.  Jacobs,  spoke  in  the  morning.  I 
was  unanimously  elected  the  Democratic  or  Conservative  candi 
date  for  State  Senate.  No  other  name  put  before  convention. 

September  6.  Attended  Congressional  convention  at  Pied 
mont.  Nominated  O.  D.  Downey.  The  nomination  was  offered 
me.  I  declined  in  favor  of  Downey. 

Joint  debates  between  political  candidates  were  com 
mon  in  those  days,  and  Mr.  Davis,  although  not  profes 
sionally  a  speaker,  followed  the  usual  practise  and  de 
bated  the  issues  with  his  opponent.  His  journal  has  sev 
eral  references  to  conferences  with  Mr.  Flick  in  which 
they  decided  on  the  dates  and  places  for  their  meetings. 
There  are  also  intimations  of  the  mutual  respect  which 
the  candidates  felt  for  each  other.  Mr.  Flick  was,  in 
fact,  a  formidable  opponent.  A  broad-minded  man,  who 
subsequently  received  high  honors  from  his  party,  he  had 
strengthened  himself  by  his  support  of  liberal  franchise 
legislation,  and  the  Flick  amendment  was  looked  upon  as 


48  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  means  of  keeping  the  allegiance  of  Republican  voters 
who  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  restrictive  legisla 
tion. 

The  outcome  of  the 'Campaign  and  its  political  signifi 
cance  is  briefly  indicated  in  several  entries  in  the  journal : 

October  27.     Election  day. 

October  28.  I  go  to  Piedmont  to  get  election  returns.  Min 
eral  County  goes  Democratic.  News  looks  favorable. 

October  31.  Our  State  (West  Va.)  has  gone  Democratic. 
We  elected  Governor  and  State  officers  and  a  majority  to  the  Leg 
islature,  securing  a  United  States  Senator.  My  majority  238; 
two  years  ago  it  was  70  in  the  same  district. 

The  significance  of  the  victory  secured,  and  so  tersely 
described,  was  immediately  recognized.  It  was  the  be 
ginning  of  the  political  ascendancy  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  West  Virginia  for  twenty-five  years.  That  the 
talent  for  organization  shown  by  Mr.  Davis  and  his 
shrewd  political  judgment  had  much  to  do  with  the  result, 
was  universally  admitted.  That  an  honorable  ambition 
for  further  public  service  in  higher  councils  had  been 
nourished  by  him  was  also  disclosed.  The  first  evidence 
of  it  appears  in  these  entries  in  the  journal : 

Novmber  i.  I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  Wheeling, 
Parkersburg,  etc.  Find  my  friends  Camden,  Jackson,  Baker, 
etc.,  all  right,  and  firm  for  me  for  United  States  Senate. 

December  3.  Went  to  Graf  ton  to  meet  Lewis  Baker.  He  is 
fine,  and  doing  what  he  can  in  a  discreet  way.  He  thinks  we 
must  win. 

Going  to  the  Legislature,  as  it  was  familiarly  spoken 
of,  was  not  so  easy  at  this  period.  The  capital  had  been 
permanently  changed  from  Wheeling  to  Charleston,  and 
Charleston  then  had  no  railroad  connection  and  could  be 
reached  only  by  stage  or  boat  on  the  Kanawha  and  its 


Finance  Committee  of  West  Virginia  Legislature 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  49 

tributaries.  A  few  days  before  the  Legislature  was  to 
convene  in  January,  1871,  a  large  number  of  the  mem 
bers  from  the  northern  and  eastern  end  of  the  State  met 
at  Parkersburg,  only  to  find  the  weather  very  cold  and 
the  river  navigation  entirely  closed  by  reason  of  the  ice. 
Mr.  Davis  was  one  of  the  party.  Another,  a  lad  of 
thirteen,  was  Alston  G.  Dayton,  later  a  member  of  Con 
gress  and  a  Federal  Judge.  He  was  with  his  father. 
Judge  Dayton's  recollection  of  the  trip  was  vivid,  after 
nearly  fifty  years. 

The  party,  Judge  Dayton  recounted,  secured  hacks 
and  horses.  Soon  after  they  started  the  weather  mod 
erated,  heavy  rains  came  on,  and  the  roads  thawed  out  so 
rapidly  that  they  became  almost  impassable,  while  the 
streams  were  swollen  so  as  to  be  dangerous  to  cross. 
One  stream  they  got  over  in  a  flat-boat,  carrying  two  or 
three  at  a  time,  and  then  swam  the  horses  across.  Late 
at  night  they  reached  Sissonville,  on  the  Pocatalico 
River,  which  was  full  of  running  ice  that  made  crossing 
it  impossible. 

Sissonville  at  that  time  was  composed  of  a  small  mill, 
a  country  store,  which  the  party  found  locked  up,  a  small 
blacksmith  shop,  and  an  old-fashioned  two-story  house 
on  the  hillside.  Senator  Davis  made  straight  for  the 
house  to  arrange  for  shelter  and  succor  for  the  party. 
He  returned  somewhat  crestfallen,  and  gave  a  graphic 
description  of  his  experience.  After  knocking  for  a  long 
time  at  the  front  door,  it  was  opened  a  few  inches  by  a 
middle-aged  woman,  who  told  him  that  she  was  a  "lone 
widder  woman"  with  nobody  in  the  house  but  her  young 
daughter  and  small  son,  and  she  could  not  afford  to  allow 
such  a  pack  of  men  to  come  in. 

The  elder  Dayton  then  tried  his  persuasive  powers. 
He  went  to  the  house  and  told  the  woman  that  the  parties 


SO  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

were  members  of  the  Legislature,  and  that  they  were  all 
men  of  good  character.  It  was  related  afterward  with 
some  humor  that  this  only  made  her  the  more  suspicious. 
Finally  a  solution  was  found.  An  express  wagon  loaded 
with  a  heavy  iron  safe  and  drawn  by  four  horses,  with  a 
guard  of  four  men,  had  been  included  in  the  party  when 
it  left  Parkersburg.  The  expressmen  had  managed  to 
get  it  across  the  streams  and  through  the  muddy  roads. 
It  was  understood  that  the  safe  contained  a  large  sum  of 
money  in  transportation  to  pay  off  the  men  who  were 
working  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railway.  Mr. 
Dayton  induced  the  woman  to  come  to  the  window  and 
look  at  the  safe,  and  then  argued  that  if  she  would  let  it 
be  brought  into  the  house  overnight  she  could  feel  sure  of 
the  respectability  of  the  legislators. 

This  argument  prevailed.  The  safe  was  deposited  in 
the  front  hall,  the  members  of  the  party  admitted,  fires 
were  lit  and  supper  was  provided — corn-bread,  bacon, 
and  buttermilk.  The  meal  was  partaken  of  in  relays. 
Such  bedding  as  the  household  possessed  was  spread  on 
the  floor,  and  the  wearied  legislators  slept  as  best  they 
could.  In  the  morning  they  were  given  a  chicken  break 
fast  with  soda  biscuit.  On  asking  the  reckoning,  they 
were  told  that  there  was  no  charge  for  sleeping  on  the 
floor,  and  that  the  usual  price  for  meals  was  ten  cents ; 
but,  in  view  of  the  extra  work,  the  widow  thought  she 
ought  to  have  thirty  cents  for  supper  and  breakfast. 
Senator  Davis  pulled  out  from  his  pocket  a  silver  dollar 
and  gave  it  to  her,  and  the  members  of  the  party  formed 
in  line  and  each  one  did  likewise. 

After  further  adventures  the  party  finally  reached 
Charleston,  and  settled  down  to  the  work  of  the  session. 

The  fruits  of  State  Senator  Davis's  political  leader- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  51 

ship,  and  the  further  evidence  of  his  ambition  for  higher 
place,  is  indicated  in  a  series  of  entries  in  his  journal : 

January  17,  1871.  First  day  of  session  of  Legislature.  Each 
House  organized  by  electing  Lewis  Baker  of  Wheeling,  President 
of  Senate,  and  E.  E.  Crocroft,  of  Wheeling,  Speaker  of  the  House. 

January  18.  Committees  announced.  I  am  chairman  of  Fi 
nance  and  Claims. 

January  20.  Senatorial  contest  is  getting  warm.  I  feel  sure  of 
success. 

January  23.  The  senatorial  question  is  the  all-absorbing  one. 
It  is  the  talk  of  everyone.  Many  admit  I  must  be  elected. 

January  26.  Great  excitement  as  to  who  shall  be  Senator. 
My  friends  say  I  will  win,  and  I  agree  with  them. 

January  27.  I  was  nominated  for  U.  S.  Senate  in  Democratic 
caucus  last  night  on  first  ballot  by  a  vote  of  12  for  Mr.  Lamb,  12 
for  Col.  Smith,  and  27  for  H.  G.  Davis. 

January  28.  All  appear  satisfied  that  I  am  to  be  next  Demo 
cratic  Senator. 

January  31.  At  noon  we  vote  for  Senator.  Senate,  Brown  8, 
Davis  14;  House,  Brown  14,  Davis  39.  Total,  Brown  22;  Davis 
53.  So  I  have  a  majority  in  each  House.  Harman,  Koontz,  Gold 
and  Stubbs,  Republicans,  voted  for  me. 

This  is  a  modest  account  of  a  very  live  struggle  as  to 
who  should  be  the  first  Democratic  Senator  from  West 
Virginia.  Daniel  Lamb  and  Colonel  B.  H.  Smith,  who 
contended  with  Mr.  Davis  for  the  honor,  were  both 
strong  party  leaders  and  each  had  a  personal  following, 
but  their  combined  strength  did  not  equal  that  of  Mr. 
Davis  in  the  party  caucus.  Mr.  Brown,  who  received 
the  Republican  vote,  had  been  prominent  in  his  own 
party.  The  outgoing  Republican  Senator  whom  Mr. 
Davis  succeeded  was  Waitman  T.  Wiley,  of  Morgan- 
town,  one  of  the  staunch  leaders  in  the  formation  of  the 
new  State. 

Of  deep  human  interest  was  the  characteristic  note  in 


52  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

which  Senator  Davis  informed  his  wife  of  his  election. 
This  information  was  conveyed  in  the  following  letter. 

Charleston, 

January  31,  1871. 
My  dear  Kate: 

All  O.  K.  I  was  to-day,  by  a  vote  of  more  than  two  to  one, 
elected  U.  S.  Senator  for  six  years  from  4th  of  March.  I  am 
well  and  in  fine  spirits.  Write  often.  Hope  all  are  well. 

Yours, 

HENRY. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  session  Mr.  Davis  con 
tinued  his  work  as  State  Senator,  mainly  on  the  Com 
mittee  on  Finance  and  Claims,  of  which  he  was  now 
chairman  by  virtue  of  his  party  being  in  the  majority. 
His  principal  labor  was  in  helping  to  formulate  a  joint 
report  of  the  House  and  Senate  Committees  on  Taxation 
and  Finance  regarding  the  financial  condition  of  the 
State. 

Since  a  Republican  State  administration  was  under 
review,  the  inquiry  had  in  it  some  partizanship,  as  was 
shown  by  a  minority  report  dissenting  from  the  state 
ments  of  the  majority;  but  there  was  much  to  which  no 
partizan  objection  could  be  made.  One  of  the  recom 
mendations  was  that  the  school  fund,  which  was  main 
tained  by  taxation,  and  the  income  from  investments 
should  always  at  the  end  of  each  fiscal  year  be  set  apart 
for  its  own  purposes,  and  never  should  be  estimated  with 
the  funds  of  the  general  treasury,  which  were  subject  to 
legislative  appropriation. 

This  report  contained,  too,  what  might  be  called  Mr. 
Davis's  final  word  as  a  legislator  of  the  State  of  West 
Virginia  on  the  debt  question :  "It  must  be  ascertained 
and  met  in  that  spirit  of  fairness  which  is  the  distin 
guishing  characteristic  of  our  people."  Other  details 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  53 

of  legislation  were  faithfully  attended  to,  and  when  the 
session  expired  Mr.  Davis  could  look  back  on  five  years 
of  faithful,  constructive  service  to  the  new  State  in  which 
both  his  head  and  his  heart  had  been  intimately  con 
cerned.  His  service  to  West  Virginia  was  a  fitting  pre 
lude  to  his  service  to  the  nation  as  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Senate. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SENATOR   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES — FIRST   TERM 

Notable  members  of  the  Forty-second  Congress — The  Demo 
cratic  minority  in  the  Senate — Partizan  measures  and  sectional 
issues — Senator  Davis's  assignment  to  Claims  and  Appropriations 
committees — Speech  in  support  of  West  Virginia  war  claims — 
Financial  legislation  in  the  Forty-third  Congress — Panic  of  1873 
portrayed — Mobility  of  currency  advocated — President  Grant's 
veto  of  the  Inflation  Bill — Resumption  of  specie  payments — Work 
as  member  of  Committee  on  Transportation  Routes — West  Vir 
ginia  waterways — Political  revolution  gives  Democrats  a  majority 
in  the  House — Forty-fourth  Congress — Senator  Davis  on  Treas 
ury  accounts  and  government  bookkeeping — National  and  State 
campaigns  of  i876-—Reelection  to  the  Senate — Support  of  Elec 
toral  Commission. 

MR.  DAVIS  was  in  his  forty-eighth  year,  the 
prime  of  a  vigorous  life,  when  he  began  his 
service  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  that  rare  person,  a  business  man  devoting  him 
self  to  public  affairs.  To  the  wider  field  which  opened 
before  him  he  brought  the  valuable  legislative  training 
that  had  come  from  his  service  in  the  Legislature  of 
West  Virginia.  He  also  brought  a  ripe  judgment  and 
a  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  fundamental  questions  that 
were  paramount  in  the  legislation  of  the  nation  at  that 
day.  To  these  qualifications  he  added  the  fruits  of  a 
matured  political  experience  and  a  robust  support  of  the 
principles  of  his  own  party,  tempered  with  a  keen  in 
sight  into  the  principles  of  the  party  to  which  he  was  in 
opposition. 

54 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  55 

Mr.  Davis  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  the  second 
year  of  President  Grant's  administration,  at  the  opening 
of  the  Forty-second  Congress,  on  March  4, 1871.  It  was 
a  notable  Congress  in  its  membership  in  both  branches. 
The  war  giants,  who  had  been  responsible  for  the  meas 
ures  which  were  enacted  during  the  period  when  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  was  the  supreme  issue,  were 
still  there,  and  were  still  shaping  the  legislation  follow 
ing  the  great  struggle. 

James  G.  Elaine  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  James  A.  Garfield  was  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Republican  party  in  the  House.  Samuel  J.  Randall 
of  Pennsylvania  was  one  of  the  forceful  men  among  the 
minority.  Another  was  Samuel  S.  Cox,  then  represent 
ing  a  New  York  district,  formerly  of  Ohio.  His  old 
railway  chief,  Thomas  Swann,  was  a  member  of  the 
House. 

In  the  Senate  were  Roscoe  Conkling  of  New  York, 
Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  former  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Hannibal  Hamlin  and  Lot  M.  Morrill  of  Maine, 
George  F.  Edmunds  and  Justin  F.  Morrill  of  Vermont, 
Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Oliver  P.  Morton  of 
Indiana,  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  Zachariah  Chandler 
of  Michigan,  and  Lyman  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  all  of 
whom  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  shaping  war  legis 
lation,  and  most  of  whom  were  radicals  of  the  radicals  on 
the  Reconstruction  measures.  On  the  Democratic  side 
the  leaders  were  Allen  G.  Thurman  of  Ohio  and  Thomas 
F.  Bayard  of  Delaware.  They  were  reinforced  by  the 
entry,  contemporaneously  with  Mr.  Davis,  of  Francis  P. 
Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri,  and  Matthew  W.  Ransom  of 
North  Carolina.  Among  the  new  Republican  Senators 
were  John  A.  Logan  of  Illinois,  the  greatest  volunteer 
soldier  of  the  war,  William  Pitt  Kellogg  of  Louisiana, 


56  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  Powell  Clayton  of  Arkansas.  William  Windom  of 
Minnesota  had  come  to  the  Senate  from  the  House  in  the 
preceding  Congress. 

No  general  amnesty  act  had  yet  been  passed,  and  those 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  Rebellion  consequently  were 
barred  from  membership,  though  some  of  the  Southern 
States  in  which  the  Demcorats  had  gained  control  of  the 
legislatures  had  selected  men  of  this  class.  The  actual 
party  alinement  was  fifty-eight  Republicans  and  sixteen 
Democrats,  although  the  political  reaction  which  later 
was  to  result  in  the  Liberal  Republican  movement  already 
was  manifesting  itself,  and  several  of  the  most  promi 
nent  Senators  were  freeing  themselves  from  the  party 
allegiance  which  they  had  maintained  during  the  war 
and  immediately  thereafter. 

Among  these  were  Carl  Schurz  and  Lyman  Trumbull. 
Yet  the  Republican  majority  was  large  enough  to  main 
tain  the  party  solidarity  necessary  to  carry  through  what 
ever  measures  bore  a  distinctively  political  character. 
The  Democratic  minority  was  a  compact,  aggressive 
body  which  had  little  difficulty  in  acting  as  a  unit  on  most 
questions  and  which  therefore  never  lacked  the  qualities 
of  a  determined  opposition. 

There  are  a  few  entries  in  Senator  Davis's  journal 
regarding  his  early  experiences  in  the  Senate.  From 
one  of  these  it  appears  that  a  caucus  was  held  at  Sen 
ator  Thurman's  house  in  which  the  minority  membership 
of  the  committees  was  agreed  on.  From  a  later  entry 
it  is  disclosed  that  the  tradition  that  a  new  Senator  must 
remain  silent  for  two  years  sometimes  was  broken  even 
in  those  days,  the  trespasser  on  one  occasion  being  the 
fiery  Missourian,  General  F.  P.  Blair.  Under  date  of 
April  3  is  the  simple  entry,  "Gen.  Blair  spoke  all  day/' 


Henry  Gassaway  Davis  in  1868 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  57 

At  another  date  it  is  noted  that  Senator  Sumner  made 
his  great  speech  on  Santo  Domingo. 

The  principal  committee  to  which  Senator  Davis  was 
assigned  was  that  on  Claims.  It  was  an  important  one, 
since  it  had  to  do  with  the  claims  growing  out  of  the  war. 
Notwithstanding  that  he  was  a  minority  member,  much 
of  the  work  of  this  committee  seems  to  have  been  as 
signed  to  him.  The  numerous  bills  reported  by  him, 
some  favorably  and  some  unfavorably,  all  showed  pa 
tient  investigation  and  impartial  judgment.  Naturally, 
many  of  these  bills  related  to  his  own  State,  since  it  had 
been  the  borderland  between  the  contending  armies. 

At  this  session  Senator  Davis  presented  the  petition 
from  the  Legislature  of  West  Virginia  favoring  the  re 
moval  of  the  political  disabilities  imposed  by  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment.  On  other  sectional  questions  grow 
ing  out  of  the  war  he  acted  consistently  with  his  party, 
especially  in  opposing  Senator  Sherman's  resolutions  on 
Southern  outrages. 

The  second  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress 
found  him  immersed  in  committee  work,  and  also 
brought  evidences  of  growing  appreciation  on  the  part  of 
his  colleagues.  A  year  after  he  had  become  a  Senator 
there  is  a  terse  entry  in  his  journal:  "I  am  learning 
the  ropes  about  the  Senate  and  feel  somewhat  at  home." 
It  was  not  -long  after  this  that  his  political  leadership  in 
his  own  State  was  shown  by  his  election  as  a  delegate  to 
the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  Baltimore.  At 
that  convention  he  agreed  with  other  members  of  his 
party  that  the  only  course  open  to  the  Democrats  was  to 
ratify  the  nomination  of  Greeley  and  Brown  which  had 
been  made  by  the  Liberal  Republican  Convention  at 
Cincinnati,  but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  looked  on  the 


58  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

nomination  of  this  ticket  as  presaging  party  success. 

Political  questions,  sectional  issues,  were  paramount 
n  Congress,  and  party  feeling  ran  high.  Senator  Davis, 
while  taking  a  pronounced  stand  with  his  party  col 
leagues,  managed  to  avoid  the  bitter  personal  contro 
versies  that  were  a  feature  of  the  debates.  Both  his  per 
sonal  feelings  and  his  political  principles  made  him  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  General  Amnesty  Bill,  under 
which  ex-Confederates  would  be  enabled  to  return  to  the 
halls  of  legislation.  At  trie  same  time  he  was  opposed 
to  the  Civil  Rights  Bill,  which  was  supported  by  the  ma 
jority  party  in  both  branches  of  Congress.  The  Am 
nesty  Act  was  finally  passed,  and  later  the  modified  Civil 
Rights  Bill. 

In  the  Forty-third  Congress  political  questions  were 
still  prominent,  but  they  were  not  predominant.  Finan 
cial  legislation  and  various  measures  of  internal  improve 
ments  claimed  much  attention.  To  this  Congress  came 
several  ex-Confederates  whose  disabilities  had  been  re 
moved  through  the  passage  of  the  Amnesty  Act.  Among 
them  was  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  of  Mississippi,  who  entered 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Other  new  members  of 
the  House  who  later  filled  a  large  space  in  the  affairs  of 
the  country  were  Colonel  W.  R.  Morrison,  of  horizontal 
tariff  bill  fame,  and  J.  G.  Cannon  of  Illinois,  R.  P.  Bland 
of  Missouri,  the  free  silver  advocate,  and  T.  C.  Platt  of 
New  York.  The  delegate  from  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico  was  Stephen  B.  Elkins,  who  soon  was  to  become 
identified  with  Senator  Davis  in  the  intimate  family  re 
lation  of  son-in-law,  and  who  was  to  be  associated  with 
him  in  his  business  enterprises,  although  the  two  were 
always  to  remain  opposed  in  national  politics. 

Among  Senator  Davis's  new  colleagues  in  the  Senate 
were  William  B.  Allison  of  Iowa,  who  followed  in  nat- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  59 

ural  progression  from  the  House,  John  James  Ingalls 
of  Kansas,  John  P.  Jones  of  Nevada,  and  Richard  J. 
Oglesby  of  Illinois.  The  new  members  of  his  own  po 
litical  faith  included  the  dashing  ex-Confederate  cav 
alry  leader,  General  John  B.  Gordon  of  Georgia.  The 
Democratic  strength  was  increased  by  several  new  Sen 
ators,  and  the  influence  of  the  minority,  chiefly  still  in 
opposition,  became  a  much  more  pronounced  factor  in 
national  legislation. 

At  the  special  session  of  the  Senate  called  by  President 
Grant  to  confirm  his  Cabinet,  Senator  Davis  was  placed 
on  the  Appropriations  Committee,  and  of  this  Committee 
he  was  destined  to  be  a  member  during  the  remainder  of 
his  senatorial  term.  Senator  Morrill  of  Maine  was 
chairman.  Two  Republican  members  of  the  Committee 
with  whom  Senator  Davis  through  all  the  remaining 
years  of  their  lives  occupied  intimate  personal  relations 
were  Allison  and  Windom. 

The  work  of  this  committee  was  most  congenial  to 
Senator  Davis.  Through  its  complete  control  of  the  leg 
islation  affecting  all  public  expenditures  it  was  the  most 
powerful  committee  in  the  Senate,  a  power  of  which  it 
had  not  been  shorn  by  the  creation  and  development  of 
other  committees,  the  sequence  of  the  growth  of  the  Gov 
ernment  itself. 

During  this  Congress  one  of  the  great  characters  of 
the  nation  passed  away.  The  event  is  thus  described  in 
the  Senator's  journal: 

March  12,  1874.  Mr.  Sumner,  Senator  of  Mass.,  was  in  his 
seat  yesterday;  to-day  dead.  Senate  adjourns  until  Monday. 

Senator  Davis  was  still  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Claims,  and  was  the  author  of  a  bill  appropriating 
$500,000  to  reimburse  West  Virginia  for  the  war  losses 


60  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  her  citizens.  At  the  session  in  May,  1874,  he  made  a 
speech  in  support  of  this  bill  in  which  he  vividly  pictured 
the  events  of  the  days  of  the  war.  After  sketching  the 
formation  of  the  State,  he  said : 

"The  people  whose  cause  I  advocate  suffered  much  for 
the  sake  of  the  Republic.  They  are  the  men  of  the  bor 
der,  those  men  who  during  the  Rebellion  were  the  living 
rampart  of  the  States  which  adhered  to  the  general  Gov 
ernment.  .  .  . 

"West  Virginia  was  one  of  the  border  States  during 
the  late  war,  and  so  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  hard  knocks 
and  cruel  blows  from  both  the  contending  armies.  She 
was  the  bulwark,  the  fortress,  interposed  between  the 
loyal  States  of  the  North  and  the  opponents  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  Her  hills  and  valleys  resounded  with  the 
march  of  hostile  armies  during  the  whole  war,  and  on 
numberless  occasions  were  the  scene  of  hard-fought  bat 
tles,  and  were  drenched  with  the  blood  of  the  best  and 
bravest  of  both  armies. 

"All  the  moral  influence  which  she  as  a  State  could  ex 
ercise  was  thrown  in  the  cause  of  the  Government.  Be 
ing  one  of  the  principal  theaters  of  action  and  the  Gi 
braltar  of  safety  for  the  Northern  States,  a  large  number 
of  troops  was  kept  in  this  State  all  the  time.  Thus  it 
was  necessary,  as  one  of  the  consequences  of  war,  to  use 
her  schoolhouses  and  other  public  buildings  as  quarters 
to  shield  the  soldier  from  wintry  blasts,  or  else  as  hos 
pitals  to  protect  and  care  for  the  wounded.  .  .  . 

"It  was  a  misfortune  both  to  the  people  of  the  South 
and  the  people  of  the  North  that  this  war  broke  out ;  but 
it  did  break  out,  and  it  raged  like  a  flame  upon  the  prairie, 
destroying  everything  within  its  reach.  It  swept  over 
our  State  like  a  hurricane.  It  was  our  lot  to  have  visited 
upon  us  all  the  events,  all  the  horrors  of  war,  all  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  61 

effusion  of  blood,  the  desolation  of  families,  the  rapine, 
the  acts  of  violence  and  the  conflagrations  incident  to 
war.  The  two  armies  surged  backward  and  forward 
through  our  State  like  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tide, 
first  advancing  and  then  retreating.  Life,  liberty,  prop 
erty,  all  went  down  before  the  storm.  Ties  of  kindred 
— social,  domestic,  and  religious  ties — were  snapped 
asunder.  Our  cultivated  fields  were  laid  waste,  our 
homes  destroyed,  our  industrial  pursuits  interrupted, 
nay,  almost  abandoned.  Many  of  our  people  were 
driven  away  from  their  homes;  their  cattle,  horses,  and 
other  stock  were  taken,  their  houses  burned,  and  every 
thing  they  had  on  earth  destroyed.  .  .  . 

"This  is  but  a  faint  picture  of  some  of  the  horrors  of 
war.  Our  neighbors  who  dwelt  in  affluence  and  safety, 
while  we  stood  sentry  over  their  treasures  and  loved  ones, 
little  knew  the  sufferings  and  privations  we  were  called 
upon  to  undergo." 

The  financial  legislation  of  this  Congress  was  the  se 
quence  of  the  panic  of  1873,  the  full  effects  of  which  were 
most  acutely  felt  during  the  following  Spring.  There 
was  much  pressure  from  the  West  and  South  to  increase 
the  volume  of  currency  as  a  means  of  alleviating  the  in 
dustrial  and  commercial  distress.  The  agitation  bore 
concrete  form  in  the  measure  reported  by  Senator  Sher 
man  from  the  Finance  Committee  to  increase  the  na 
tional  bank  circulation.  This  afterward  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Inflation  Bill,  although  it  was  a  compromise 
between  those  who  favored  increasing  the  currency  and 
those  who  hoped  ultimately  to  get  back  to  specie  basis. 

Senator  Davis,  like  most  of  his  party  colleagues,  sup 
ported  this  measure ;  in  doing  this  he  made  it  clear  that 
he  did  not  'think  a  greater  volume  of  currency  was  nec 
essary,  but  that  what  was  needed  was  a  more  equal  dis- 


62  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

tribution  in  different  sections  of  the  country.  He  did 
not  look  upon  the  National  Bank  Act  as  sufficiently  elas 
tic,  and,  having  been  a  country  banker,  he  was  not  afraid 
even  to  advocate  a  return  to  the  State  banks  by  reducing 
the  prohibitive  ten  per  cent.  tax.  But  during  the  debates 
on  this  subject  he  made  it  clear  that  the  basis  of  the  na 
tional  circulation  should  be  means  for  facilitating  cur 
rency  in  all  parts  of  the  country  as  needed.  It  was  nearly 
forty  years  later  when  the  views  he  advocated  found  ex 
pression  in  the  passage  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Act. 

When  the  bill  was  reported  from  the  Committee,  Sen 
ator  Davis  offered  an  amendment  providing,  in  sub 
stance,  for  free  banking.  Under  date  of  March  18; 
1874,  his  journal  recites  that  he  made  a  speech  on  the 
finances  which  seemed  to  be  well  received.  His  views 
on  the  causes  that  lead  to  inflation  are  as  pertinent  to-day 
as  they  were  in  the  year  following  the  great  panic. 
After  reviewing  in  its  historical  aspect  banking  legisla 
tion,  he  continued : 

"What  is  needed  in  our  present  currency  is  stability,  a 
fixed  value,  and  that  measured  by  a  standard  recognized 
by  the  world.  .  .  . 

"Previous  to  the  panic  early  in  September  last  there 
was  no  one  bold  enough  to  say  that  there  was  not  suffi 
cient  circulation  for  the  trade  and  business  of  the  coun 
try;  in  fact,  it  was  generally  stated  that  there  was  too 
much  paper  money.  Its  abundance  led  to  wild  specula 
tions,  and  particularly  to  the  building  of  costly  railroads 
in  distant  and  wild  countries  far  in  advance  of  the  wants 
of  the  people.  The  experience  of  all  countries,  particu 
larly  that  of  our  own,  teaches  us  that  an  abundance  of 
paper  money  causes  panics.  The  prospects  of  a  healthy 
fall  trade  were  never  more  encouraging  than  at  the  be 
ginning  of  September  last  None  complained  that  there 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  63 

was  not  currency  enough  for  all  the  business  wants  of 
the  country.  Like  a  thunder-shower  in  harvest-time  the 
panic  came ;  all  lost  confidence ;  banks  and  people  held  all 
the  currency  they  had  and  got  all  they  could,  holding 
tight  to  it  to  sell  at  a  premium,  or  fearing  a  demand  that 
would  be  made  on  them.  This  caused  a  want  of  confi 
dence  which  it  has  taken  and  will  take  time  to  restore. 
When  it  is  fully  restored,  and  a  transfer  made  of  part 
of  the  excess  of  bank  circulation  held  in  the  North  to 
the  States  of  the  South  and  West,  I  fully  believe  that  a 
majority  of  the  people  will  agree  that  we  have  paper 
money  enough/' 

Discussing  the  same  subject  and  supporting  his 
amendment  to  reduce  the  tax  on  the  circulation  of  the 
State  banks  from  ten  per  cent,  to  an  amount  equal  to  that 
paid  by  the  national  banks  (one  per  cent.),  he  declared 
it  would  relieve  the  wants  of  the  Southern  and  Western 
States  by  allowing  them  a  local  circulation.  During  the 
discussion  of  the  various  financial  measures  Senator 
Davis  often  spoke  in  aphorisms. 

Arguing  against  inflation,  and  citing  the  experience  of 
the  Confederate  States  he  said:  "The  more  abundant 
you  make  anything,  the  less  valuable."  Again :  "What 
gives  gold  its  value  is  that  it  costs  about  what  it  is  worth 
to  produce  it;  make  it  as  plentiful  as  brass  or  iron  and  it 
would  no  longer  have  its  present  value."  And  again: 
"You  cannot  legislate  money  into  this  or  that  place.  .  .  . 
Money  will  find  -the  trade  and  business  centers." 

The  bill  reported  by  Senator  Sherman  from  the 
Finance  Committee,  as  ultimately  agreed  upon  by  both 
branches  of  Congress,  provided  for  an  increase  of  the 
paper  currency  up  to  $400,000,000,  with  provisions  for 
a  reduction  from  that  amount  by  retirement  of  the  notes, 
to  which  interpretations  were  given  to  suit  their  own 


64  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

views  by  those  who  favored  more  paper  money  and  those 
who  favored  reducing  the  paper  circulation.  Senator 
Davis  supported  the  legislation,  and  when,  on  April  22, 
President  Grant's  unexpected  veto  was  received,  he  voted 
to  override  the  veto. 

The  act  providing  for  the  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments  on  January  i,  1879,  was  passed  at  the  winter  ses 
sion  of  this  Congress.  Senator  Davis,  though  not  op 
posed  in  principle  to  the  bill,  had  some  objections  to  its 
form,  and  he  was  one  of  the  fourteen  Senators  who  voted 
against  it.  In  a  later  Congress  he  declared  that  resump 
tion  had  come  and  was  apparently  working  well,  and 
consequently  he  was  opposed  to  taking  a  backward  step. 
"Do  not  let  us  go  back/'  he  said;  "let  us  keep  for 
ward." 

It  was  during  the  Fifty-third  Congress  that  Senator 
Davis  found  a  congenial  outlet  for  his  constructive  ten 
dencies  in  connection  with  internal  improvements.  In 
his  journal,  under  date  of  September  15,  1873,  ne  says : 

I  am  a  member  of  the  Senate  Select  Committee  on  Transporta 
tion.  It  consists  of  Hon.  Wm.  Windom,  chairman;  Conkling, 
New  York ;  Sherman,  Ohio ;  West,  Louisiana ;  Mitchell,  Oregon ; 
Norwood,  Georgia;  Davis,  West  Virginia.  We  meet  in  New 
York  City  twice,  and  then  go  to  the  Lakes,  Chicago,  Wisconsin 
and  Fox  River,  Richmond,  Va.,  James  and  Kanawha  canals. 
Next,  Charleston,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  and  then  home.  Decem 
ber  vacation  of  Congress  we  go  to  New  Orleans  by  way  of  At 
lanta  and  Mobile.  Go  down  Mississippi  River  to  proposed  St. 
Phillip  Canal.  Stay  at  New  Orleans  four  or  five  days,  then  home 
by  way  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  Louisville,  and  Cincinnati.  Re 
turn  home  January  4th. 

These  hearings  excited  great  interest  throughout  the 
country.  Senator  Davis  soon  developed  into  one  of  the 
most  influential  members  of  the  Committee.  His  inti- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  65 

mate  knowledge  of  railroading  and  of  the  whole  subject 
of  transportation  was  quickly  apparent  in  the  pertinent 
inquiries  he  addressed  to  the  various  witnesses  who  ap 
peared  in  advocacy  of  the  projects  which  they  thought 
essential  to  -the  development  of  their  section  of  the  coun 
try. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  was  prepared  by  the 
chairman,  Senator  Windom.  Its  voluminous  pages  are 
still  studied  by  students  of  the  transportation  problems 
of  the  present  day.  A  sweeping  conclusion  as  to  the 
power  to  regulate  commerce,  embodied  by  the  chairman 
in  the  report,  was  not  in  full  harmony  with  the  views  of 
some  of  the  members  of  the  Committee,  who  were  tra 
ditionalists.  Senator  Davis  joined  with  his  Democratic 
colleagues,  Senators  Norwood  and  Johnson,  the  latter 
having  been  added  to  the  committee,  in  a  brief  statement 
that  they  did  not  agree  that  Congress  could  exercise 
power  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  several  States 
to  the  extent  asserted.  Senator  Conkling  also,  while 
saying  that  he  concurred  in  the  main,  dissented  from  cer 
tain  statements  of  law  and  of  fact,  and  from  the  recom 
mendations  relative  to  the  power  of  Congress  and  its 
exercise. 

The  academic  dissent  from  some  of  the  general  con 
clusions  did  not  prevent  Senator  Davis  from  giving  most 
hearty  support  to  the  specific  projects  that  received  the 
indorsement  of  the  Committee.  In  this  matter  he  was 
not  unmindful  of  the  interests  of  West  Virginia,  and  he 
was  solicitous  also  for  the  interests  of  Baltimore  and 
the  Chesapeake  Bay  country.  He  believed  that  his  own 
State  had  not  received  the  consideration  to  which  it  was 
entitled  in  the  River  and  Harbor  legislation.  He  pressed 
on  the  Committee  the  value  of  the  Great  Kanawha  River, 
and  he  secured  the  designation  of  the  eminent  Baltimore 


66  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

engineer,  B.  H.  Latrobe,  as  the  civilian  member  of  the 
Committee  appointed  to  report  on  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  canals. 

He  also  secured  an  appropriation  to  begin  the  improve 
ment  of  the  river,  the  first  appropriation  ever  voted  by 
Congress  for  a  West  Virginia  waterway,  and  the  first 
step  toward  making  the  Great  Kanawha  the  important 
transportation  route  it  has  since  become.  It  was  during 
the  discussion  of  the  project  for  the  Hennepin  Canal, 
joining  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Illinois 
River  with  the  Mississippi,  that  he  declared  the  Chesa 
peake  and  Delaware  Canal  to  be  on  a  par  with  the  pro 
posed  Hennepin  Canal.  On  other  occasions  he  sought 
to  secure  recognition  of  Baltimore  as  one  of  the  great 
Atlantic  ports. 

In  one  of  the  debates  on  internal  improvements  and 
foreign  commerce  Senator  Davis  drew  from  the  brilliant 
and  erratic  Senator  Nye  of  Nevada  a  plea  that  convulsed 
the  Senate.  Senator  Nye  was  advocating  a  bill  provid 
ing  for  a  postal  steamship  subsidy  between  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  Australia.  Senator  Davis  moved  the  refer 
ence  of  the  bill  from  the  Post  Office  Committee  to  the 
Committee  on  Commerce.  The  chairman  of  the  latter 
Committee,  it  was  known,  was  not  favorable  to  the  meas 
ure. 

Senator  Nye,  somewhat  inattentive  to  the  routine  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Senate,  at  first  did  not  catch  the  import 
of  the  motion.  When  he  did,  he  jumped  up,  exclaiming : 
"This  bill  of  mine?  I  have  not  time  to  attend  its  funeral 
to-day.  [Laughter.]  I  hope  that  will  not  be  done. 
You  see  the  undertaker  here  in  his  seat,  and  I  do  not 
propose  to  be  led  to  the  shambles  with  this  bill  nolens 
volens" 

The  .signs  of  a  political  revolution  throughout  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  67 

nation  were  becoming  clearer  during  the  final  session  of 
the  Forty- third  Congress.  As  soon  as  adjournment 
was  had,  Senator  Davis  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the 
campaign  in  his  own  State.  The  political  developments 
are  summarized  in  two  entries  in  his  journal : 

October  13,  1874.  Our  State  election.  Democrats  made  nearly 
a  clean  sweep  in  this  and  other  States.  We  elected  about  4~5ths 
of  Legislature  which  elects  a  U.  S.  Senator.  Also  a  full  (3) 
delegation  to  House  of  Representatives. 

November  3.  Twenty-three  States  voted  to-day.  Democrats 
make  large  gains,  even  carrying  Massachusetts,  electing  Gov. 
Gaston  and  4  or  5  members  of  House.  N.  Y.  and  Penna.  go 
Democratic,  which  give  Democrats  House  by  50  or  60  majority, 
and  elects  10  or  12  Senators. 

When  the  Forty-fourth  Congress  met  in  December, 
1875,  the  House  of  Representatives,  with  its  large  Dem 
ocratic  majority,  elected  Michael  C.  Kerr,  of  Indiana, 
Speaker.  The  Democratic  membership  in  the  Senate 
was  increased  to  32,  just  twice  what  it  had  been  when 
Mr.  Davis  entered  the  Senate.  He  now  had  a  Demo 
cratic  colleague  from  his  own  State  in  the  person  of 
Allan  T.  Caperton,  who  had  succeeded  Senator  Boreman. 
From  the  neighboring  State  of  Maryland  came  his  life 
long  personal  and  political  friend,  William  Pinckney 
Whyte.  Francis  Kernan  of  New  York,  W.  W.  Eaton 
of  Connecticut,  and  Joseph  E.  McDonald  of  Indiana, 
were  among  the  other  new  Democratic  Senators.  A 
notable  figure  of  the  past  emerging  into  political  life 
again  was  former  President  Andrew  Johnson  of  Ten 
nessee. 

In  this  Congress  Senator  Davis  returned  to  a  subject 
to  which  he  gave  much  attention  through  a  great  part  of 
his  Senatorial  career.  This  was  government  bookkeep 
ing  and  the  forms  of  statement  of  the  public  debt.  In 


68  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  Forty-third  Congress  he  had  introduced  a  resolution 
requesting  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  inform  the 
Senate  whether  annual  reports  of  the  balances  due  the 
United  States  had  been  submitted  since  1865,  and  if  not 
why  not. 

The  purpose  of  this  resolution  may  have  been  political, 
as  was  charged  by  the  Republican  leaders  of  the  Senate, 
but  Senator  Davis  insisted  that  the  people  were  entitled 
to  know  "who  the  defaulters  were."  The  resolution  was 
amended  and  passed,  and  a  reply  later  was  received  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  which  had  little  value  to 
the  inquirer.  Following  this  effort  Senator  Davis  sub 
mitted  a  resolution  for  a  committee  to  investigate  the 
Treasury  accounts.  It  was  amended  by  directing  the 
Finance  Committee  to  make  an  investigation.  Natu 
rally,  Senator  Davis  got  little  comfort  from  the  report  of 
the  Committee,  the  majority  of  which  was  opposed  to 
him  politically. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  subject  the  Senate  had  a  taste 
of  Mr.  Davis's  tenacity  and  of  his  persistence  in  follow 
ing  up  a  matter  in  which  he  was  interested.  Ultimately 
he  got  a  hearing,  and  the  Senate,  while  not  fully  agreeing 
with  his  charges,  apparently  did  agree  with  his  main 
contention,  which  was  that  the  debt  statements  and  all 
the  statements  in  regard  to  government  finances  should 
be  clear  enough  to  be  understood.  Senator  Davis's  own 
views  were  set  forth  in  detail  during  the  running  debate 
in  the  Senate  in  January,  1876,  when  he  returned  to  the 
subject  on  different  days.  He  had  several  colloquies 
with  Senator  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  served 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  under  whose  adminis 
tration  some  of  the  changes  that  were  questioned  had 
been  made.  His  contention  was  summed  up  in  this 
statements 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  69 

"The  largest  railroad  corporations,  commercial  and 
manufacturing  establishments  in  the  country  whose  ac 
counts  reach  tens  of  millions  when  managed  upon  proper 
business  principles,  have  no  difficulty  in  making  intelli 
gible  their  books  and  being  able  to  make  a  statement  of 
the  exact  condition  of  their  business  at  any  time;  and 
while  I  concede  that  the  Government  is  on  a  larger  scale, 
yet  its  management  should  be  such  that  its  financial  af 
fairs  may  be  readily  understood;  and  indeed  the  larger 
the  operations  the  greater  the  necessity  for  rigid,  prompt, 
and  accurate  accountability  and  careful  and  regular 
statements,  which  should  always  agree,  and  when  once 
rendered  should  be,  like  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Per 
sians,  not  subject  to  change." 

Senator  Davis's  own  view  of  the  subject,  as  it  pre 
sented  itself  to  him  at  the  time,  is  recorded  in  two  brief 
entries  in  the  journal : 

January  13,  1876.  I  make  a  speech  on  alterations,  etc.,  in 
Treasury  Department.  I  show  many  millions  not  accounted  for. 
Ex-Secretary  Boutwell  replies. 

January  24.  I  reply  to  Ex-Secretary  Boutwell  and  make  some 
new  charges.  I  sustain  all  I  have  said. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  later  years  Senator 
Davis  changed  his  views  somewhat  on  this  subject. 
Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  who  were  of  his  own  polit 
ical  party,  on  their  part,  altered  the  methods  of  govern 
ment  bookkeeping,  and  of  public  debt  statements,  and 
were  criticized  in  turn  by  their  political  opponents.  But 
in  his  principal  contention,  that  the  statements  of  the 
Treasury  accounts  and  the  public  debt  should  be  clear 
enough  to  be  understood,  he  was  on  solid  ground  from 
which  he  never  retreated. 

The  national  campaign  of  1876  occupied  much  of  the 


70  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

attention  of  Senator  Davis.  As  usual,  he  was  one  of 
the  delegates  from  West  Virginia  to  the  Democratic 
National  Convention,  and  he  came  back  from  Cincinnati 
believing  that  the  prospects  were  very  good  for  the  elec 
tion  of  Tilden  and  Hendricks.  He  corresponded  with 
Tilden  concerning  the  campaign.  But,  while  interested 
in  the  national  ticket,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his  own 
political  fortunes.  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
in  August,  he  gave  his  whole  time  to  the  State.  The 
subsequent  events  are  thus  recorded  in  his  journal: 

August  31,  1876.  I  have  looked  over  the  State  and  many  of  my 
friends  have  written  me.  All  agree  that  without  a  great  change 
takes  place  I  will  be  easily  reflected  to  the  Senate.  My  term  ex 
pires  March  4,  1877. 

January  12,  1877.  West  Virginia  Legislature  met  the  loth  at 
Wheeling.  I  go  and  stay  three  days.  Mr.  C.  J.  Faulkner  and 
myself  are  the  principal  candidates  for  long  term  of  the  Senate. 
Herford  and  Brice  for  short  to  succeed  Mr.  Caperton,  who  died 
in  July  last. 

January  20.  I  return  to  Wheeling.  Election  for  Senator  takes 
place  23d. 

January  28.  On  the  27th,  on  fourth  ballot,  I  was  elected  to 
Senate  for  six  years  from  March  4,  1877,  by  a  vote  of  60  against 
37  scattering,  of  which  Mr.  Faulkner  got  18.  Herford  was  also 
elected  on  same  day,  next  ballot  after  me.  .  .  . 

There  were  6  or  8  candidates  for  my  place  in  the  Senate.  Most 
promising  was  Hon.  C.  J.  Faulkner,  Judge  John  Brannon,  Hon. 
J.  J.  Davis,  Judge  L.  D.  Camden.  Hon.  J.  N.  Camden  and  his 
friends  were  for  me ;  also  Governor-elect  Mathews.  I  think  Hon. 
Lewis  Baker,  editor  of  Register,  did  more  to  elect  me  than  any 
other  man.  J.  N.  Camden  next.  There  was  no  caucus  nomina 
tion.  I  was  elected  in  joint  session  on  fourth  day  and  fourth 
ballot.  There  were  21  Republicans  in  Legislature.  20  voted  for 
me,  so  I  received  40  Democratic  votes  and  20  Republican. 

The  fact  that  the  Republican  members,  themselves 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  71 

being  so  greatly  in  the  minority,  preferred  to  honor  Sen 
ator  Davis  with  their  support  rather  than  to  compliment 
one  of  their  own  number,  was  a  source  of  great  grati 
fication  to  him.  It  showed  the  warm  feeling  which  the 
opposing  party  always  held  for  him,  notwithstanding  the 
inevitable  incidents  of  partizanship. 

In  the  exciting  events  at  Washington  following  the 
disputed  election  between  Tilden  and  Hayes,  Senator 
Davis  bore  himself  with  his  habitual  moderation.  He 
believed  that  Tilden  had  been  elected  President,  and  he 
voted  for  the  Electoral  Commission  Bill  in  the  expecta 
tion  that  the  Commission  would  so  find;  but  that  body 
having  decided  that  Hayes  was  elected,  he  acquiesced  in 
the  decision,  and  counseled  acquiescence  on  the  part  of 
others. 

His  first  term  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  was 
now  ending.  His  six  years'  service  had  broadened  his 
insight  into  national  affairs,  and  had  given  him  an  ex 
perience  by  which  he  was  certain  to  profit  during  fur 
ther  service.  In  his  own  party,  in  the  caucus  and  in  the 
cloak-room  councils,  his  influence  had  become  very  pro 
nounced.  Senator  Thurman,  on  whom  the  burden  of 
minority  leadership  had  lain  somewhat  heavily,  always 
turned  to  him  when  questions  of  party  policy  were  to  be 
determined.  Other  leaders  who  were  heard  most  often 
on  the  floor  in  the  exposition  of  party  policy  also  coun 
seled  with  him. 

Yet,  while  a  strong  party  man,  Senator  Davis  never 
failed  to  show  the  independence  that  was  characteristic 
of  a  broad-minded  public  man.  He  had  won  the  esteem 
of  the  dominant  party,  and  its  leaders,  recognizing  his 
enormous  capacity  for  detail  and  his  thorough  study  of 
every  subject  presented  to  him,  frequently  turned  to  him 


72  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

for  advice  on  matters  of  legislation  that  were  not  of  a 
political  character.     With  many  of  them,  also,  he  had 
formed  warm  ties  of  personal  friendship.     Thus  he  was 
entering  on  his  second  term  with  every  prospect  of  use-  i 
fulness  and  of  increased  influence. 


•i 
m ti*  •  •- 


CHAPTER  V 

SENATOR   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES — SECOND  TERM 

Parties  as  affected  by  President  Hayes's  Administration — 
Remonetization  of  silver — Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate  of 
the  Forty-sixth  Congress — New  colleagues — Senator  Davis  as 
chairman  of  the  Appropriations  Committee — Advocacy  of  a  De 
partment  of  Agriculture — Modest  provisions  for  the  farmers — 
Camclen  as  a  colleague — Treasury  accounts  again — An  unqualified 
protection  Democrat — Defense  of  the  tariff  on  coal — West  Vir 
ginia  and  debts  of  honor — Business  reasons  for  declining  a  third 
term — Resolution  of  State  Legislature — Resume  of  public  ques 
tions  during  twelve  years'  service — Growth  of  appropriations — 
James  G.  Elaine's  tribute  to  Senator  Davis. 

THE  Senate  of  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  was  called 
in  the  customary  extra  session  by  President 
'Hayes  to  confirm  his  Cabinet  nominations  and 
other  appointments.     The  inauguration  is  thus  briefly 
described  in  Senator  Davis's  journal: 

March  5,  1877.  The  4th  being  Sunday,  Hon.  R.  B.  Hayes  was 
inaugurated  President,  the  Electoral  Commission  made  by  Con 
gress  having  declared  Hayes  elected  over  Tilden  by  a  majority  of 
one  electoral  vote,  185  to  184. 

The  Democratic  membership  of  the  Senate  was  fur 
ther  strengthened  in  this  Congress.  Among  the  new 
Democratic  Senators  were  James  B.  Beck  of  Kentucky, 
William  H.  Barnum  of  Connecticut,  Benjamin  H.  Hill 
of  Georgia,  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  of  Mississippi,  Augustus  H. 
Garland  of  Arkansas,  J.  R.  McPherson  of  New  Jersey, 
and  Daniel  W.  Voorhees  of  Indiana.  Mr.  Blaine,  who 
had  served  in  the  Forty-fourth  Congress  to  fill  the  va- 

73 


74  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

cancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Senator  Lot  M.  Morrill, 
now  entered  upon  the  full  senatorial  term.  Samuel  J. 
Kirkwood  entered  from  Iowa.  George  F.  Hoar  of 
Massachusetts,  after  several  years'  service  in  the  House, 
now  came  to  the  Senate.  Henry  M.  Teller  appeared 
from  Colorado,  the  Centennial  State.  David  Davis  of 
Illinois,  having  resigned  from  the  Supreme  Bench  to  ac 
cept  the  Senatorship  as  an  independent,  thus  breaking 
the  deadlock,  was  one  of  the  conspicuous  members. 

When  the  House  of  Representatives  organized,  it  still 
contained  a  large  Democratic  majority,  and  Samuel  J. 
Randall  was  elected  Speaker.  Among  the  new  members 
of  the  House  were  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine  and  Wil 
liam  McKinley  of  Ohio. 

At  the  beginning  of  Senator  Davis's  second  term  many 
of  the  political  questions  that  had  been  the  means  of 
welding  the  Democratic  minority  closely  together  no 
longer  existed.  There  was  still  political  legislation,  but 
the  era  of  Reconstruction  and  of  the  party  measures 
growing  out  of  it  was  ended.  The  new  era  was  marked 
by  the  policy  of  conciliation  toward  the  South  instituted 
by  President  Hayes.  The  split  this  policy  caused  in  the 
Republican  party,  and  the  bitterness  of  the  factions  that 
respectively  sustained  and  opposed  it,  exceeded  the  bit 
terness  that  had  obtained  in  previous  years  when  the  two 
great  parties  were  lined  up  against  each  other.  These 
family  quarrels  of  the  Republicans  had  little  effect  on 
the  legislative  activities  of  Senator  Davis.  His  per 
sonal  relations  with  several  of  the  rival  leaders  at  times 
enabled  him  to  act  as  a  mediator  between  them.  This 
was  the  strongest  evidence  that  could  be  given  of  the  de 
gree  to  which  his  personality  had  impressed  itself  on 
his  colleagues. 

Senator  Davis  continued  to  serve  on  the  Committee  on 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  75 

Appropriations.  Though  not  a  member  of  the  Finance 
Committee,  he  gave  much  attention  to  the  work  of  that 
Committee  in  the  form  in  which  it  came  before  the  Sen 
ate,  sometimes  joining  with  his  colleagues  of  both  par 
ties  to  modify  its  recommendations,  sometimes  support 
ing  them,  and  occasionally  rejecting  them  outright. 

The  remonetization  of  silver  was  the  leading  financial 
question  before  the  Forty-fifth  Congress.  The  House 
passed  the  Bland  Free  Coinage  Bill,  the  purpose  of  which 
was  declared  by  its  supporters  to  be  to  remedy  "the 
crime  of  1873"  by  which  silver  was  demonetized.  The 
Senate  accepted  the  Allison  Amendment,  under  which 
the  coinage  of  not  less  than  two  million  dollars  and  not 
more  than  four  million  dollars  was  provided  per  month. 
Senator  Davis,  before  this  bill  came  up,  had  been  one 
of  the  forty-three  Senators  who  voted  for  the  resolu 
tion  offered  by  Stanley  Matthews  of  Ohio,  to  the  effect 
that  the  bonds  of  the  United  States  were  payable  in  sil 
ver.  On  the  proposed  remonetization  he  favored  the 
Allison  amendment,  and  spoke  in  support  of  it  several 
times. 

The  substance  of  his  position  was  that  he  favored  sil 
ver  because  it  was  one  of  our  chief  products,  would  make 
the  money  known  to  the  Constitution  more  abundant, 
would  relieve  distress,  and  would  lead  back  to  prosperity. 
He  held  that  its  remonetization  was  important  to  the 
laboring,  the  agricultural,  the  manufacturing,  and  the 
debtor  classes.  When  President  Hayes  vetoed  the 
Bland-Allison  bill,  he  stood  by  his  original  convictions 
and  voted  to  pass  it  over  the  veto,  which  was  done. 

It  was  during  this  silver  debate  that  Senator  Davis  set 
forth  his  views  on  the  relations  between  labor  and  capi 
tal.  In  a  sharp  colloquy  with  Senator  Sargent  of  Cali 
fornia,  he  remarked,  "The  poor  man  appears  to  have 


76  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

found  friends  here."     Continuing  the  debate,  he  said: 

"In  the  discussion  of  this  question  I  do  not  find  it 
necessary  to  reflect  upon  capital  and  labor.  I  am  a 
friend  of  both — and  have  a  good  word  and  a  kind  feel 
ing  for  each.  By  laws  man  cannot  control  they  are  and 
ought  to  be  friends;  they  should  go  hand  in  hand;  they 
are  necessary  to  each  other ;  one  cannot  be  well  and  the 
other  sick.  A  nation  cannot  prosper  for  a  long  time 
when  they  are  at  war ;  they  may  be  arrayed  against  each 
other  temporarily,  but  bad  results  are  as  sure  to  follow 
and  continue  until  their  natural  harmony  is  restored. 
One  depends  upon  prosperity  and  health  upon  the  other. 
They  should  support  and  uphold  each  other;  they  have 
equal  and  the  same  right  to  protection." 

These  were  not  mere  academic  expressions  or  the 
catch-words  of  a  politician.  They  embodied  the  prin 
ciple  upon  which  Senator  Davis  as  a  capitalist,  and  for 
more  than  half  a  century  a  large  employer,  guided  his 
relations  with  labor. 

In  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  the  Democrats  held  the 
majority  in  the  Senate  as  well  as  in  the  House,  and  thus 
were  enabled  to  control  the  organization.  Among  the 
new  Democratic  Senators  were  George  H.  Pendleton  of 
Ohio,  George  G.  Vest  and  Francis  M.  Cockrell  of 
Missouri,  and  John  T.  Morgan  of  Alabama.  Senator 
Davis,  by  virtue  of  his  service  as  a  minority  member  of 
the  Appropriations  Committee,  now  that  his  party  was 
in  the  majority,  became  the  chairman  of  that  committee. 

During  the  two  years  in  which  he  served  in  this  ca 
pacity  he  observed  the  same  practice  that  he  had  followed 
when  in  the  minority.  He  believed  in  public  economy, 
but  not  in  parsimony.  Politically  he  was  opposed  to  the 
party  that  was  in  control  of  the  national  administration, 
and  the  scrutiny  of  its  expenditures  was  a  fair  subject 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  77 

for  party  capital ;  but  no  department  of  the  Government, 
in  asking  appropriations,  had  reason  to  feel  that  its 
proper  requests  would  be  denied. 

If  the  chairman  of  the  Appropriations  Committee  de 
claimed  somewhat  against  extravagance  and  exhorted  to 
economy,  he  had  done  the  same  thing  when  he  was  a 
minority  member,  and  where  it  seemed  that  the  growth 
of  the  Government  justified  increased  expenditures  in 
some  directions  he  advocated  them  and  sought  to  pro 
vide  for  them.  This  was  notably  the  case  in  regard  to 
what  would  now  be  called  encouraging  agriculture. 
That  greater  support  should  be  given  by  the  general  gov 
ernment  to  the  development  of  agriculture  had  been  one 
of  his  favorite  themes.  It  was  natural  that  the  farmer 
boy  of  the  Western  Shore  of  Maryland  who  later  had 
cleared  the  Alleghany  wilderness,  and  whose  farm  at 
Deer  Park  filled  so  many  entries  in  his  journal,  should 
take  an  interest  in  the  farmers  of  the  nation. 

Senator  Davis  loved  the  farm  and  farm  life.  He  had 
introduced  various  resolutions  and  bills  to  encourage 
farming.  One  of  these  resolutions  was  presented  at 
the  spring  session  in  1878.  Its  text  showed  how  little 
encouragement  the  agriculture  of  the  country  up  to  that 
time  had  received  from  Congress.  There  was  a  bureau 
or  Department  of  Agriculture,  with  a  Commissioner  at 
its  head  and  a  few  employes.  This  resolution  called  for 
the  printing  of  three  hundred  thousand  copies  of  the 
Agricultural  Report.  Congress  made  some  provision 
for  distributing  seeds ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  debate  on 
the  resolution  Senator  Davis,  correcting  Senator  Sauls- 
bury  of  Delaware,  who  had  spoken  of  five  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars  as  the  appropriation  made  for  agricultural 
purposes,  explained  that  the  amount  was  only  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 


78  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

At  the  December  session  he  introduced  another  resolu 
tion  reciting  that,  since  agriculture  was  the  foundation 
of  nearly  all  our  wealth,  and  since  it  was  mainly  through 
the  exportation  of  its  products  that  we  were  paying  off 
our  large  indebtedness,  the  Committee  on  Agriculture 
of  the  two  Houses  should  investigate  and  report  what 
could  or  ought  to  be  done  by  the  general  Government  the 
better  to  advance  the  agricultural  interests.  Previous 
to  the  introduction  of  this  resolution  he  had  corresponded 
with  Governor  Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York,  who  had, 
as  he  wrote  to  Senator  Davis,  talked  a  great  deal  and 
frequently  at  agricultural  fairs.  Ultimately  the  resolu 
tion  was  passed. 

In  order  to  get  the  whole  subject  before  Congress  in 
a  definite  form,  Senator  Davis  made  a  set  speech.  Un 
der  date  of  January  14,  1879,  he  records  in  his  journal: 
"I  made  in  Senate  an  agricultural  speech  which  is  highly 
spoken  of."  In  this  speech  he  said: 

"We  are  a  nation  of  farmers,  and  because  of  the  vast 
area  of  our  soil  and  its  great  fertility  we  must  remain 
so.  Our  agricultural  products  not  only  support  our  peo 
ple  but  pay  for  what  we  buy  abroad.  They  furnish  our 
greatest  source  of  revenue — and  to  them  we  are  indebted 
for  the  balance  of  trade  now  being  largely  in  our  favor 
and  that  our  bonds  and  other  indebtedness  held  abroad 
are  so  rapidly  coming  home." 

Continuing  this  line  of  thought,  he  analyzed  the  sta 
tistics  and  showed  that  three  fourths  of  the  country's 
exports  were  agricultural  products. 

In  succeeding  Congresses  Senator  Davis  joined  with 
Senator  Windom  in  seeking  to  secure  the  establishment 
of  a  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce.  He 
introduced  a  bill  for  that  purpose  at  several  sessions. 
His  final  effort  in  behalf  of  agriculture  was  made  in 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  79 

January,  1883,  just  a  few  weeks  before  his  retirement,  in 
a  speech  supporting  his  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Department  of  Agriculture.  In  this  speech  he  com 
pared  somewhat  humorously  the  numerical  proportion 
of  lawyers  and  farmers.  He  said  that  in  both  branches 
of  Congress  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  law 
yers  and  sixteen  farmers,  counting  himself  as  a  farmer. 
This  was  in  striking  contrast  to  the  House  of  Delegates 
of  West  Virginia  in  which  he  began  his  public  life.  As 
has  been  shown  in  the  foregoing  pages,  there  were  one 
lawyer  and  twenty  farmers  in  that  body. 

At  this  session  of  the  Senate  Mr.  Davis,  as  a  member 
of  the  Appropriations  Committee,  was  in  charge  of  the 
Agricultural  Appropriation  Bill.  It  provided  $60,000 
for  seed,  and  $414,000  for  administrative  and  other  ex 
penses.  Senator  Davis  lived  to  see  the  modest  appro 
priation  approximating  half  a  million  dollars,  which 
marked  the  last  stage  of  his  Senatorial  career,  grow  into 
an  appropriation  of  $20,000,000  in  1915,  to  support 
what  has  become  one  of  the  greatest  departments  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  all  within  a  gen 
eration.  To  his  constructive  mind,  and  to  his  sympathy 
with  the  farmer  and  his  knowledge  of  the  economic  rela 
tion  of  agriculture  to  national  development,  is  due  much 
of  the  credit  for  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Agri 
culture  and  the  functions  it  performs  in  the  Government. 

West  Virginia  politics  and  national  politics  were  not 
neglected  on  account  of  Senatorial  duties.  Senator 
Davis  took  an  active  part  in  the  West  Virginia  State 
campaign  in  1878.  Under  date  of  September  24  he 
records  in  his  journal:  "I  make  a  speech  at  Graf  ton  on 
the  political  situation  of  the  country.  It  is  printed  in 
full  in  Wheeling  Register,  and  in  part  in  many  of  the 
papers  of  the  State."  Further  entries  relate  to  other 


80  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

speeches.  The  outcome  is  indicated  in  October  in  the 
statement  that  the  Democrats  have  carried  each  of  the 
Congressional  districts,  and  a  large  majority  in  the  Leg 
islature.  The  majority  of  the  Legislature  was  especially 
gratifying  to  Senator  Davis.  The  reason  for  his  grati 
fication  is  indicated  in  a  later  entry  in  his  journal: 

Hon.  J.  N.  Camden  has  been  elected  U.  S.  Senator  for  West 
Virginia,  term  commencing  March  4  for  six  years.  I  was  for 
him  and  will  be  glad  to  have  him  for  a  colleague. 

Mr.  Camden's  career  was  in  many  respects  similar  to 
that  of  Senator  Davis.  He  was  a  business  man.  Liv 
ing  at  Parkersburg,  he  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the 
oil  industry,  and  he  did  for  the  Ohio  River  counties  what 
Senator  Davis  did  for  the  mountain  counties  in  develop 
ing  their  resources  and  providing  systems  of  transporta 
tion.  The  two  were  associated  with  the  campaigns  fol 
lowing  the  Civil  War,  under  which  the  Democratic  party 
through  organization  and  leadership  was  enabled  to  gain 
control  of  the  State.  Their  political  association  and 
their  personal  friendship  continued  until  the  death  of 
Senator  Camden. 

In  1880  Senator  Davis  headed  the  West  Virginia 
delegation  to  the  Democratic  national  convention  at 
Cincinnati,  which  nominated  Hancock  and  English.  He 
did  not,  apparently,  regard  the  ticket  as  a  strong  one. 

During  the  sessions  of  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  Sen 
ator  Davis  returned  to  the  subject  of  the  Treasury  ac 
counts.  His  party  being  in  the  majority,  he  was  able  to 
secure  the  appointment  of  a  special  committee  of  inves 
tigation.  John  Sherman,  who  had  been  chairman  of  the 
Finance  Committee  when  Senator  Davis  began  his  agita 
tion  for  information,  was  now  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury.  The  bookkeeping  of  the  Department  under  him 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  81 

was  not  criticized,  but  the  report  made  by  Senator  Davis 
on  behalf  of  the  majority  insisted  that  in  previous  years 
many  erasures  and  changes  had  been  made  in  the  books, 
and  that  the  systems  of  checks  on  officers  handling  large 
sums  of  money  was  faulty.  A  minority  report  was  pre 
sented  by  Senators  Ingalls  and  Dawes,  in  which  the  con 
clusions  of  the  majority  were  combated.  Some  years 
later  the  Treasury  Department  revised  the  entire  system 
of  bookkeeping,  and  introduced  further  safeguards, 
while  at  the  same  time  simplifying  the  methods  of  book 
keeping.  From  the  beginning  this  simplification  had 
been  one  of  the  principal  contentions  of  Senator  Davis. 

Senator  Davis  was  a  protection  Democrat  without 
apology  and  without  qualification.  A  Henry  Clay  Whig 
in  his  earlier  political  life,  this  was  perhaps  a  natural  in 
heritance  ;  but,  living  in  a  State  whose  principal  resources 
lay  underground,  and  being  himself  an  industrial  cap 
tain  seeking  to  develop  those  resources,  protection  was 
a  natural  course  of  political  action  for  him.  Yet  he 
was  not  extreme  in  his  views,  and  he  did  not  oppose  re 
duction  in  some  of  the  schedules  where  the  industries 
had  been  sufficiently  fostered  to  stand  this  reduction. 

In  the  Forty-second  Congress,  when  the  internal  rev 
enue  taxes  were  removed  from  fish,  fruits,  and  meats, 
and  the  duties  on  tea  and  coffee  were  abolished,  he  also 
supported  the  reduction  of  ten  per  cent,  on  cotton,  wool, 
iron,  steel,  paper,  rubber,  and  glass  products.  In  the 
Forty-sixth  Congress  he  supported  a  tariff  amendment 
by  Senator  Bayard  providing  that  the  duty  on  wool 
should  not  exceed  twenty-five  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  and 
on  woolen  goods  fifty  per  cent. 

The  reasons  that  guided  his  support  of  protection  as  a 
principle  and  as  a  policy  were  set  forth  when  coal,  the 
chief  product  of  his  own  State,  came  under  review.  The 


82  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Tariff  Commission  appointed  by  President  Arthur  in  the 
bill  it  recommended  had  proposed  to  reduce  the  duty  on 
coal.  In  the  debates  on  this  subject  in  January  and  Feb 
ruary,  1883,  Senator  Davis  reviewed  the  whole  tariff 
question  in  its  broad  historial  aspect — as  well  as  in  its 
local  application.  The  Tariff  Commission  Bill  proposed 
to  reduce  the  duty  on  bituminous  coal  from  seventy-five 
cents  to  fifty  cents  per  ton.  Senator  Davis  objected  to 
this  proposition,  for  one  reason  because  other  articles 
were  reduced  only  ten  per  cent.,  while  the  proposed  re 
duction  on  coal  amounted  to  thirty-three  per  cent. 

In  the  discussion  he  reviewed  and  justified  his  own 
stand  as  related  to  his  personal  interest.  Senator  Mor 
gan  of  Alabama  had  declared  that  the  protection  prop 
osition  was  a  man  voting  a  tax  into  his  own  pocket  out 
of  the  people  of  Alabama  to  enrkh  himself. 

Senator  Davis,  speaking  with  feeling,  in  reply  said : 

"It  is  true  that  I  am  a  coal-miner,  and  had  been  for 
many  years  before  I  knew  the  Senate,  and  I  have  con 
tinued  ever  since.  I,  however,  am  one  of  a  corporation 
in  which  there  are  perhaps  one  hundred  people  engaged. 
Every  Senator  here  has  voted  on  everything  that  has 
come  up  in  the  Senate  when  his  people  were  interested 
regardless  of  his  personal  interest.  I  might  as  well  say 
that  the  Senator  from  Texas,  or  any  other  Senator,  when 
he  votes  for  the  duty  on  cotton,  or  any  other  thing,  votes 
to  put  money  in  his  own  pocket.  I  do  not  choose  to  go 
into  that;  I  do  not  think  it  just  or  proper.  .  .  . 

"I  have  uniformly  voted  for  a  fair  protection,  or  what 
I  believe  to  be  a  fair  protection,  for  every  interest  that 
has  come  up  for  consideration.  I  have  been  unfortunate 
in  disagreeing  with  a  large  majority  of  my  friends  on 
this  side  of  the  chamber.  However,  I  am  just  as  hon 
est  in  my  conviction  that  I  am  right  as  they  are  in  theirs. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  83 

I  heard  it  said — I  suppose  it  was  not  intended  for  me — 
on  some  vote  I  gave  here  that  I  had  better  look  out — 
'wait  until  coal  comes  up/  That  is  hardly  a  fair  argu 
ment.  I  do  not  regard  it  as  a  fair  way  of  meeting  a  ques 
tion,  because  a  Senator  happens  to  be  interested  in  an 
industry,  to  retaliate  on  his  vote  on  something  else  by 
the  idea,  'when  we  get  a  chance  we  will  punish  him/  I 
have  no  such  feeling  towards  others.  I  act  upon  each 
question  as  it  arises,  according  to' my  judgment  of  what 
is  right  in  regard  to  it.  ... 

"I  suppose  I  am  interested  to  the  extent  of  one  ten 
thousandth  part  of  the  coal  mines  in  this  country.  My 
interest  in  the  question,  I  suppose,  would  not  be  greater 
than  that,  and  yet  Senators  speak  as  if  that  would  have 
weight  with  me;  as  if  my  course  on  this  question  was  an 
exception  to  my  general  rule  of  action,  as  if  coal  was 
the  thing  above  all  others,  as  if  sDme  little  personal  feel 
ing  actuated  me.  I  find  Senators  on  this  side  of  the 
house  who  are  especially  interested  in  some  particular 
thing,  and  they  vote  and  act  for  protection  to  that,  and 
they  vote  against  protection  to  everything  else.  .  .  . 
That  course  of  conduct  seems  to  go  all  around  the  cham 
ber.  It  is  not  confined  to  this  side  altogether ;  and  yet, 
when  a  man  who  has  been  consistent,  and  voted  for  every 
fair  proposition,  asks  for  a  reasonable  rate  on  a  great 
product  of  his  State,  some  Senators  are  kind  enough  to 
say,  or  choose  to  say,  that  that  man  owns  an  interest 
in  a  mine.  I  do  own  an  interest  in  a  mine,  and  I  wish 
it  distinctly  understood  that  I  do." 

In  later  years,  as  a  private  citizen,  Mr.  Davis  pro 
tested  before  the  committees  of  Congress  against  the 
free  coal  proposition  contained  in  the  Wilson  bill,  the 
author  of  which  was  from  his  own  State  and  district. 
Much  later,  in  newspaper  interviews,  he  voiced  his  ob- 


84  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

jections  to  the  reduction  of  coal  which  was  provided  in 
the  Canadian  Reciprocity  Agreement  negotiated  by 
President  Taf t. 

The  debt  of  West  Virginia  was  a  topic  of  discussion 
and  criticism  at  various  periods  during  Senator  Davis's 
service  in  the  Senate.  He  had  numerous  colloquies  with 
Senators  Sherman,  Hawley,  Hoar,  and  Edmunds  on  the 
subject  at  different  times.  The  New  England  Senators 
in  particular  were  inclined  to  be  critical,  and  he  resented 
their  attitude.  In  the  several  debates  Senator  Davis  ex 
plained  his  own  action,  when  a  member  of  the  West 
Virginia  Legislature,  in  seeking  an  adjustment  of  the 
question  and  particularly  in  providing  for  commissioners 
to  go  to  Richmond  to  confer  with  Virginia  officials.  As 
to  the  action  of  members  of  the  Senate  in  bringing  up 
the  subject,  Senator  Davis  maintained  that  it  was  a  local 
question  and  belonged  to  the  two  States  respectively,  and 
not  to  Congress. 

He  reviewed  the  whole  controversy  in  a  speech  de 
livered  early  in  May,  1881.  In  this  speech,  incidentally, 
he  spoke  of  the  resources  of  West  Virginia,  saying: 
'They  are  largely  undeveloped  as  yet,  the  greater  part 
of  them  lying  dormant;  but  when  the  treasures  of  this 
mountain  State  are  unearthed,  as  they  must  be  in  time, 
they  will  astonish  the  world/' 

Referring  to  the  proportion  of  the  debt  which  the  un 
developed  commonwealth  that  West  Virginia  was  when 
it  separated  from  the  Old  Dominion  should  pay,  he 
asked:  "Can  you  tax  a  mountain  uninhabited  at  the 
same  rate  you  would  tax  a  valley  well  improved?" 

In  this  address  Senator  Davis  made  his  famous  de 
liverance  on  debts  of  honor.  "In  my  opinion,"  he  said, 
"no  individual,  no  firm,  no  corporation,  no  city,  town, 
state  or  government  can  afford  to  ignore  a  just  and  hon- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  85 

orable  debt.  A  State  cannot  do  so  even  with  as  much 
propriety  as  an  individual.  The  law  can  compel  pay 
ment  by  one ;  in  the  case  of  the  other  it  is  a  debt  more  of 
honor,  and  I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of  the 
State  to  do  his  full  share  to  have  his  State,  no  matter 
whether  it  owes  much  or  little,  do  its  part,  its  honest 
part,  its  just  part,  its  equitable  part,  toward  the  settle 
ment  and  payment  of  any  debt  it  may  owe,  and  so  far  as 
my  voice  goes  it  will  always  be  in  that  direction.  .  .  . 

"I  think  I  am  as  much  of  a  debt-payer  as  anybody,  and 
I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  every  State  and  every  indi 
vidual  to  pay  a  just  and  honorable  debt,  let  it  be  what 
it  may.  I  think  that  a  man  who  wants  to  look  the  world 
squarely  in  the  face  and  do  his  full  duty  will  at  all  times 
— whether  he  is  able  to  pay  may  be  another  question — 
at  least  answer  and  say,  'I  owe  and  will  pay  when  I 


can/ 


Senator  Davis  had  found  public  duties  most  agree 
able.  His  two  terms  in  the  Senate  had  not  caused  him 
to  tire  of  it,  but  the  public  service  was  made  at  some 
sacrifice  to  his  growing  business  interests.  These  were 
not  neglected,  but  necessarily  they  were  secondary. 
Projects  of  industrial  development  which  he  had  been 
maturing  had  now  reached  the  stage  where,  if  they  were 
to  be  brought  to  their  full  fruition,  they  must  have  the 
first  claim  on  him.  Accordingly,  he  determined  to  retire 
from  the  Senate,  although  this  did  not  mean  his  entire 
withdrawal  from  public  life,  for  he  expected  to  con 
tinue  his  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  did  continue  them 
thereafter,  but  principally  as  a  private  citizen.  His  de 
termination  to  retire  is  thus  set  forth  in  his  journal : 

November  20,  1882.     I  have  for  two  or  three  years  said  I 
would  not  be  a  candidate  for  reelection  to  the  Senate,  and  to 


86  ,THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

put  all  matters  at  rest  I  wrote  and  printed  the  following  letter. 
I  have  no  doubt  of  my  election  if  I  had  been  a  candidate. 

The  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  the  Wheeling  Reg- 
ister,  follows : 

Piedmont,  W.  Va.,  Nov.  18,  1882. 

I  have  recently  received  a  number  of  letters  and  personal  in 
quiries  from  members  of  the  Legislature  elect,  candidates  for  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  other  friends,  asking  me  if  I  would 
be  a  candidate  for  reelection  and  expressing  their  preference  for 
me  if  such  was  my  intention.  To  all  such  inquiries  my  general 
answer  has  been  that  for  the  past  two  or  three  years  I  have  often 
said  in  public  and  private  that  I  would  not  be  a  candidate  for 
reelection.  Business  is  more  agreeable  to  me  than  politics,  and 
I  am  now  engaged  in  lumbering,  mining,  banking,  and  farming; 
in  connection  with  some  friends  who  are  capitalists  living  both  in 
and  out  of  the  State,  am  constructing  railroad  lines  running  north 
and  south  through  an  undeveloped  region,  rich  in  mineral,  tim 
ber,  and  agricultural  wealth,  and  intended  when  completed  to 
connect  with  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  and  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  railroads.  My  ambition  is  to  make  a  success  of  these  en 
terprises,  especially  the  building  of  the  railroads.  These  and 
other  private  matters  are  reasons  which  forbid  my  being  a  candi 
date  for  reelection. 

In  the  many  trusts  heretofore  confided  to  my  keeping  I  have 
always  endeavored  to  do  my  full  duty,  and  I  thank  the  people  of 
the  State,  and  especially  my  friends,  for  the  political  honors  that 
have  been  conferred  upon  me. 

The  West  Virginia  Legislature  unanimously  adopted  a 
resolution  showing  the  appreciation  in  which  Senator 
Davis  was  held  by  all  parties.  Its  text,  which  is  worthy 
of  preservation,  follows : 

Whereas,  Honorable  Henry  G.  Davis  will  conclude  on  the  4th 
of  March  next  his  second  term  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States 
from  West  Virginia,  and,  having  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for 
reelection,  will  then  voluntarily  retire  from  the  Senate,  therefore 
belt 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  87 

Resolved:  That  a  legislative  acknowledgment  and  public  ex 
pression  of  thanks  is  justl}  due  unto  an  honored  and  well  tried 
public  servant,  and  that,  in  accordance  with  what  we  believe  to 
be  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  West  Virginia,  not  restricted  to 
the  limits  of  one  political  party,  we  do  hereby  declare  that  by  his 
devotion  to  the  public  service  at  all  times,  and  especially  to  the 
interests  of  West  Virginia,  the  Honorable  Henry  G.  Davis  has 
justly  earned  the  gratitude  of  his  constituents,  and  in  the  respect 
and  good  will  of  the  people  of  the  State  he  will  find  reward  for  a 
career  of  honesty,  capability,  and  energetic  endeavor  in  the  public 
service. 

The  two  terms  of  Senator  Davis  in  the  Senate  included 
six  years  of  President  Grant's  administration,  all  that 
of  President  Hayes,  the  brief  period  of  President  Gar- 
field's,  and  a  part  of  President  Arthur's  term.  When 
he  entered  the  Senate  political  and  partizan  issues,  echoes 
of  the  sectional  struggle,  were  the  vital  questions.  When 
he  retired,  the  Reconstruction  measures  were  no  longer 
an  issue.  The  menace  of  a  second  civil  war  growing 
out  of  the  disputed  election  of  1876  had  been  settled 
peaceably,  and,  though  its  echoes  were  still  heard,  these 
had  little  influence  on  the  course  of  legislation.  Specie 
payments  had  been  resumed,  and  the  silver  question  had 
been  settled,  as  it  was  then  thought,  for  good.  For 
eign  relations,  which  were  threatening  in  consequence  of 
the  dispute  with  England  over  the  Alabama  claims,  had 
been  rendered  friendly  through  the  Geneva  Arbitration. 
Chinese  immigration,  as  an  economic  problem,  had  first 
appeared  on  the  horizon,  and  President  Hayes  had  vetoed 
the  bill  passed  to  prohibit  it.  Congress  had  begun  sys 
tematically  to  develop  the  rivers  and  harbors  as  part 
of  the  transportation  system  of  the  country,  although  the 
appropriations  for  that  purpose  were  still  modest. 

The  growth  of  the  Government  was  shown  in  the 
provisions  made  for  the  annual  appropriations.     Dur- 


88  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ing  Senator  Davis's  first  year's  service  in  the  Senate, 
when  the  population  of  the  country  was  forty  millions, 
the  revenues  had  amounted  approximately  to  $365,000,- 
ooo  yearly,  of  which  a  little  more  than  $117,000,000  was 
applied  to  interest  on  the  public  debt  and  a  fraction  over 
$176,000,000  to  the  regular  appropriations.  The  pen 
sion  appropriation  amounted  to  $28,500,000  annually, 
and  of  this  sum  $240,000  was  for  pensioners  of  the  War 
of  1812.  The  appropriation  for  the  Army  was  $27,- 
700,000,  and  for  the  Navy  fractionally  less  than  $20,- 
000,000.  The  Post  Office  appropriation  amounted  to 
$26,000,000. 

For  the  fiscal  year  1883-84,  the  last  one  for  which 
Senator  Davis  helped  to  provide  as  a  member  of  the  Ap 
propriations  Committee,  the  annual  appropriations  were 
$230,200,000.  Of  this  amount,  approximately  $24,750,- 
ooo  was  for  the  Army  and  $16,000,000  for  the  Navy. 
The  appropriation  for  pensions  had  amounted  to  $100,- 
000,000.  The  population  was  now  55,000,000,  and  the 
internal  and  customs  revenues  were  approximately  $362,- 
000,000  annually. 

Of  the  party  colleagues  with  whom  he  served  in  the 
earlier  years,  there  remained  in  the  full  vigor  of  life  and 
of  active  public  service  Senator  Bayard,  one  of  the  lead 
ers  of  the  sixteen  Democratic  Senators  when  the  Forty- 
second  Congress  met  in  March,  1871.  Among  those 
who  had  entered  since  that  time,  several  of  whom  had 
become  his  closest  friends,  were  Elaine  and  Allison. 
His  cousin,  Arthur  Pue  Gorman,  and  Benjamin  Harri 
son  had  entered  the  Senate  in  the  Forty-seventh  Con 
gress. 

To  one  of  these  colleagues  it  was  given  to  form  the 
estimate  of  Henry  G.  Davis  as  a  public  man.  This  was 
James  G.  Blaine.  The  estimate  was  of  Mr.  Davis  as  he 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  89 

entered  the  Senate,  and  also  as  he  left  it.  In  his 
"Twenty  Years  of  Congress/'  in  reviewing  the  members 
of  the  Forty-second  Congress,  Mr.  Elaine  wrote : 

Henry  G.  Davis,  a  native  of  Maryland,  entered  as  the  first 
Democratic  Senator  for  West  Virginia.  His  personal  popularity 
was  a  large  factor  in  the  contest  against  the  Republicans  in  his 
State,  and  was  instantly  rewarded  by  his  party  as  its  most  influen 
tial  leader.  Mr.  Davis  had  honorably  wrought  his  own  way  to 
high  station,  and  had  been  all  his  life  in  active  affairs  as  a  farmer, 
a  railroadman,  a  lumberman,  an  operator  in  coal,  and  a  banker. 
He  had  been  uniformly  successful.  He  came  to  the  Senate  with 
the  kind  of  practical  knowledge  which  schooled  him  to  care  and 
usefulness  as  a  legislator.  He  steadily  grew  in  the  esteem  and 
confidence  of  both  sides  of  the  Senate,  and  when  his  party  ob 
tained  the  majority  he  was  intrusted  with  the  responsible  duty  of 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations.  No  more 
painstaking  or  trustworthy  man  ever  held  the  place.  While  firmly 
adhering  to  his  party,  he  was  at  all  times  courteous,  and  to  the 
business  of  the  Senate  or  in  local  intercourse  never  obtruded 
partizan  views. 

Senator  Davis's  own  valedictory  to  his  Senatorial 
career  was  characteristically  simple.  It  appears  in  this 
entry  in  his  journal : 

March  4,  1883.  My  second  term  in  U.  S.  Senate  ended  yes 
terday.  I  declined  a  reelection.  Hon.  J.  E.  Kenna  succeeded  me. 
...  I  intend  to  devote  most  of  my  time  to  the  interests  of  the 
West  Va.  Central  Co.  both  building  road,  mining,  and  selling  coal. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   RAILWAY    BUILDER 

East-and-west  trunk  lines  through  West  Virginia — Unde 
veloped  regions  between  the  north  and  south  systems — The  Davis 
projects — His  own  story  of  prospecting  trips — Early  expeditions 
into  the  forest  wilderness — Timber  observations — Exploring  un 
known  coal-fields — Surveys  for  West  Virginia  Central  Railway — 
Planning  the  route — Notable  statesmen  and  capitalists  enlisted  in 
the  enterprise — Horseback  trip  to  White  Sulphur  Springs — Open 
ing  of  the  line  in  1881 — Industrial  communities  created — Contem 
porary  account  of  the  railway  and  the  region  it  developed — Con 
troversy  with  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio — Making  the  system 
independent. 

RAILWAY  projects  are  not  conceived  overnight; 
they  grow  in  the  minds  of  those  who  originate 
and  carry  them  through.  They  are  based  on 
knowledge  of  the  resources  that  are  to  be  developed  and 
on  faith  in  the  returns  to  be  received  from  developing 
these  resources.  They  are,  in  one  sense,  the  product  of 
environment,  and  they  reflect  that  environment.  There 
is,  however,  a  substantial  difference  in  the  nature  of  the 
projects,  and  this  difference  is  nowhere  more  apparent 
than  in  the  mountainous  regions  that  are  to  be  opened 
up  to  trade  and  industry. 

Trunk  lines,  and  in  particular  east-and-west  trunk 
lines,  have  been  the  normal  course  of  railway  develop 
ment  in  the  United  States.  In  the  case  of  West  Vir 
ginia  the  geographical  situation  made  this  especially  the 
natural  course  of  transportation.  The  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  which  brought  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 

9Q 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  91 

valleys  and  the  Great  Lakes  to  tidewater,  was  the  north 
ern  route,  and  when  it  reached  Wheeling  in  1853,  the 
observation  was  made  that  the  roughest  region  yet  tra 
versed  by  an  internal  improvement  in  America  was  that 
between  Cumberland  and  the  Ohio  River. 

The  southern  route,  following  principally  the  old 
James  River  and  Kanawha  turnpike,  was  evolved  after 
the  Civil  War  into  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  system. 
Its  difficulties,  financial  and  otherwise,  were  not  unlike 
those  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio;  but  gradually  they 
were  surmounted,  and  there  was  a  trunk  line  from  tide 
water  at  Norfolk  and  Newport  News  to  the  lower  Ohio 
Valley  and  to  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

A  vast  region  lay  between  these  northern  and  south 
ern  trunk  lines,  easterly  and  westerly,  which  could  be 
developed  only  by  lines  that  would  connect  with  them 
and  that  would  also  secure  access  for  the  coal  and  tim 
ber  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  and  to  tide 
water.  Railways  that  had  financial  difficulties  in  pro 
viding  a  main  system  are  slow  to  strike  boldly  out  and 
build  feeders.  They  construct  branch  lines  cautiously 
and  conservatively.  It  is  their  preference  to  leave  to 
the  enterprise  of  individuals  the  building  of  new  lines, 
whose  traffic  they  will  handle  without  the  initial  cost  of 
construction  added  to  their  own  financial  burdens. 

In  this  manner  most  of  the  internal  development  of 
West  Virginia  has  been  secured.  "The  largest  chapter 
in  the  history  of  the  State,"  wrote  Professor  James  Mor 
ton  Callahan  in  his  "  Semi-Centennial  History  of  West 
Virginia,"  "is  that  relating  to  the  great  industrial  awak 
ening  which  had  its  origin  largely  in  the  increasing  de 
mand  for  timber,  coal,  oil,  and  gas,  and  was  especially 
influenced  by  the  inducements  for  the  construction  of 
railroads." 


92  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

No  man  in  the  history  of  the  State  of  West  Virginia 
fills  a  fuller  page  in  this  large  chapter  than  Henry  G. 
Davis,  and  no  man  did  more  to  supply  the  deficiency  in 
transportation  facilities  resulting  from  the  conservative 
policy  of  the  trunk  lines.  He  realized  more  thoroughly 
than  anyone  else  of  his  day  the  possibilities  of  the  State, 
especially  the  region  lying  southwest  of  Piedmont,  the 
upper  Potomac  and  Elk  Garden  regions.  He  also  real 
ized  that  the  vast  natural  resources  of  the  coal  and  tim 
ber  counties  might  lie  untouched  by  man  forever  unless 
transportation  to  the  outside  world  should  be  provided. 

His  early  purchases  of  coal  and  timber  lands  on  the 
upper  Potomac  were  adjacent  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  an  ordinary  man  would  have  been  content 
to  reap  the  gains  from  his  foresight  in  purchasing  those 
lands.  But  Mr.  Davis  was  not  an  ordinary  man.  After 
having  developed  the  Piedmont  and  New  Creek  region, 
and  then  having  opened  the  wilderness  on  the  crest  of 
the  Alleghanies,  his  vision  swept  a  wider  horizon,  and 
the  conception  came  to  him  of  building  the  railway  line 
along  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  to  the  source  of  the  sum 
mit  of  the  mountains,  and  continuing  beyond  into  the 
valleys  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies. 

It  was  this  conception  that  found  expression  in  the 
charter  for  the  Piedmont  and  Potomac  Railway,  which 
ultimately  developed  into  the  West  Virginia  Central 
and  Pittsburgh  Railway.  In  the  northern  counties  of 
the  State,  and  particularly  the  upper  Cheat  and  Tygarts 
Valley  country,  was  a  wilderness  of  timber  underlaid 
with  coal.  Some  estimate  could  be  made  of  the  worth 
of  the  timber,  but  no  one  could  estimate  the  value  of  the 
coal  that  lay  beneath  the  surface.  That  was  purely  a 
venture.  The  region  was  almost  inaccessible  and  very 
sparsely  populated  in  consequence  of  the  lack  of  means 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  93 

of  communication.  The  most  that  the  local  communi 
ties  had  sought  in  the  way  of  opening  their  resources 
was  to  improve  the  turnpikes.  A  proposition  to  con 
struct  a  double-track  tramway  fifty  miles  in  length  was 
looked  on  as  extravagant. 

Mr.  Davis  had  familiarized  himself  with  every  square 
mile  of  this  wild  country.  He  had  traversed  it  on  foot 
and  on  horseback,  always  with  the  observing  eye  of  an 
engineer  and  of  a  pioneer  lumberman  and  mining  pros 
pector.  A  trained  geologist  could  not  have  done  better 
in  locating  coal  deposits.  Some  of  the  entries  in  his 
journal  afford  vivid  evidence  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
determined  the  feasibility  of  the  railway  project.  They 
also  give  a  deep  insight  into  the  habits  of  mind  that 
formed  the  basis  of  his  success,  while  they  afford  more 
than  a  passing  glimpse  of  pioneer  exploring  and  of  in 
difference  to  its  hardships.  Here  is  the  account  of  one 
of  his  prospecting  trips : 

Aug.  16,  1869.  Bro.  Thomas  and  myself  start  on  a  trip  at 
Canaan.  Stop  first  night  at  Greenland.  Mr.  M.  D.  Neul  and 
Abraham  Smith  go  with  us.  Go  to  Corners  from  there,  to  I 
creek;  stay  all  night  with  Cap  Lamberts.  On  igth  on  east  side 
of  mountain  to  Gouldigen ;  he  goes  with  us  to  vein  of  coal ;  it 
shows  about  four  feet ;  think  it  is  6  feet.  If  we  were  to  go  again 
think  the  best  way  would  be  to  go  first  to  Greenland;  there  to 
Gouldigen.  We  went  up  the  Creek  to  coal ;  found  several  veins, 
ours  about  6  feet.  It  shows  several  small  slates.  Return  to  New 
Creek 1  by  Greenland  on  2Oth  and  come  to  Deer  Park  same  day. 

In  his  journal,  under  the  heading  "Look  at  Anderson 
and  Clancy  Pine/'  is  a  detailed  account  of  a  timber  pros 
pecting  trip,  which  shows  how  thorough  were  the 
methods  of  Mr.  Davis  in  his  reconnaissances: 

1  New  Creek  was  later  named  Keyset. 


94  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Oct.  28,  1.872.  Left  Piedmont  horseback.  Met  Jesse  W. 
Clanny  at  Morrison's  Mill.  Went  to  take  a  look  at  Anderson, 
Clanny  and  Wilson  timber  on  Savage  and  tributaries. 

Went  to  Swager's  Mill;  found  good  timber  about  there.  Mill 
is  on  horse  pond.  Run  about  four  miles  from  junction  with  Sav 
age;  run  very  crooked.  Pine  timber  on  creek  is  about  half  a 
mile  wide  and  three  long;  not  much  near  Savage.  Went  from 
Swager's  to  Clanny's  Mill;  is  on  Big  Blue  Lick  Run.  A  Mr. 
Jacobs  has  75  or  80  acres  of  No.  I  pine  near  Swager's.  Good 
farming  country  between  Swager's  and  Clanny's,  not  much  pine. 
Staid  Clanny's  all  night.  John  C.  lives  with  old  man  and  attends 
to  mill. 

October  29.  Leave  Clanny's  house  and  mill,  walk  down  Big 
Blue  Lick  and  up  Little  B.  Lick.  Not  much  timber  except  hem 
lock  near  Clanny's  mill,  in  fact  bottoms  on  Runs  are  hemlock ;  on 
side  of  hills,  white  pine.  Clanny  has  2,000  acres  in  all,  has  about 
700  acres  on  Little  Blue  Lick  tolerable  good  pine,  considerable 
hemlock,  say  one  half  each,  would  not  give  much  for  any  but 
700  acres. 

Mr.  Anderson  has,  I  would  think,  1,000  or  1,200  acres  of  white 
pine  and  three  times  as  much  hemlock. 

Clanny's  Mill  on  Blue  Lick  about  2^2  miles  from  junction  of 
Savage  and  mile  from  Little  Blue  Lick.  Clanny's  Mill  about  12 
miles  from  Mount  Crabtree  or  railroad  junction.  Blue  Lick 
about  7^  miles  from  road.  Water  sawmills  on  Mr.  Anderson's, 
8^2  miles.  Horse  pond  run,  6^2  miles.  Not  much  timber  from 
horse  pond  run  to  railroad.  Tram  could  be  easily  made  down 
Savage  by  crossing  Savage  about  four  times.  Lochiel  or  Wil 
son's  is  above  Clanny's  on  Savage,  do  not  think  much  of  it.  Ar 
rived  house  with  Mr.  Clanny  about  5  o'clock. 

A  further  inspection  of  the  timber  in  the  Savage  dis 
trict  was  made  September  20,  1877: 

Billy  Davis,  John  Riely,  Gen.  Anderson,  agent  and  myself  go 
to  Swager's  Mill  for  the  purpose  of  evamining  pine  timber. 

There  but  little  good  timber  near  Savage ;  it  is  on  headwaters  of 
the  small  streams  running  into  Savage.  We  carefully  examined 
Horse  Pond  run,  Poplar  Run,  on  which  is  Swargen's  Mill  (from 
Savage  to  foot  of  Meadow  Mountain).  No  timber  worth  nam- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  95 

ing  for  3  or  4  miles  from  Savage.  A  tract  of  land  belonging  to  a 
Mr.  Ross  called  Brantz  Mill  seat  crosses  the  run  about  2^  miles 
from  Swager's  Mill  and  4  miles  from  Savage,  takes  about  50 
acres  of  good  timber,  then  for  a  mile  up  there  is  but  little  timber, 
then  there  is  a  body  of  from  one  to  two  hundred  acres  good  white 
pine.  This  is  from  near  Mrs.  Otto's  to  Swargen's  land  and  say  a 
mile  on  creek. 

Above  Swargen's  on  Horse  Pond  Run  there  is  from  100  to  150 
acres  of  good  timber.  This  takes  us  to  foot  of  Meadow  Moun 
tain  and  makes  in  all  belonging  to  General  Anderson  say  300  to 
350  acres  of  good  pine  on  Horse  Pond  Run. 

On  Elk  Lick  Run,  from  what  is  known  as  Gov.  Thomas'  farm 
to  Barton  road  within  mile  of  Savage  there  is  a  body  of  say  250 
acres  of  good  pine  timber,  and  between  Barton  road  on  one  side 
and  Broad  Water  on  the  other  there  is  probably  400  acres  of  land, 
250  well  timbered ;  from  Thomas'  place  by  this  run  to  Savage  is 
estimated  at  4  miles.  Upon  the  whole,  there  is  not  as  much  tim 
ber  on  Savage  and  run  as  I  supposed. 

A  coal-prospecting  trip  in  the  region  where  he  was 
planning  the  railway  line  is  thus  described : 

November  9,  1874.  I  returned  from  a  trip  to  Tucker,  Ran 
dolph  and  Barbour  Counties.  Went  to  look  at  coal  deposits  of 
which  much  has  been  said. 

I  find  on  Roaring  Creek  at  or  near  Crawford  Scott's  and  I. 
K.  Scott's  a  vein  of  coal  open  in  several  places ;  the  vein  from 
top  to  bottom  is  about  n  feet,  about  2^2  feet  top  and  bottom  of 
coal,  then  a  slate  from  I  to  2  on  this,  and  about  6  feet  of  piece 
or  good  coal  in  center.  I  do  not  think  it  the  vein  of  this  region 
or  Pittsburgh ;  it  looks  more  like  the  Meyersville  or  Connellsville 
and  Uniontown  vein. 

A  later  excursion  is  told  of  in  this  manner : 

December  i,  1875.  Owen  Reader  and  myself  left  Piedmont 
this  morning  to  look  at  and  examine  new  coal  fields  lately  dis 
covered  or  opened  on  Stony  River  and  Difficult  Creek.  Staid  all 
night  at  Mrs.  Lee's.  Found  near  northwestern  road  and  on  and 
near  Difficult  Creek  two  veins  of  coal,  one  full  4  feet  on  turnpike, 


96  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

one  7  or  7^  on  Difficult  one  half  mile  below  road.  I  take  those 
two  veins  to  be  over  3^2  and  6  feet,  improved  in  quality  and  thick 
ness  ;  they  are  about  right  distance  apart. 

Below  Rhiners  on  Stony  River  and  about  midway  between 
Stony  River  Falls  and  N.  W.  Road  an  8  foot  vein,  say  2  feet  of 
coal,  then  slate  4  inches,  then  4  feet  of  coal,  then  small  slate  coal ; 
very  good  in  appearance,  comes  out  in  long  regular  pieces,  finger 
shape.  This  is  unlike  other  coal  here,  but  like  Connellsville  coal. 

Several  excursions  in  later  years  reflect  the  thorough 
manner  in  which  the  resources  of  the  districts  along  the 
proposed  line  were  studied.  Here  are  two  of  them : 

July  5,  1881.  Mr.  Elkins  and  myself  leave  Deer  Park  on  horse 
back  to  examine  country  around  and  about  Fairfax  Stone;  also 
on  backwater  of  Cheat  River.  We  find  the  timber  very  fine; 
some  cherry  and  ash ;  mostly  spruce  and  hemlock.  Coal  indica 
tions  are  very  good,  several  veins  open,  one  near  Dobbin  House 
of  almost  8  feet  pure  coal.  We  stay  at  Dobbin  House  overnight, 
no  one  lives  there.  We  had  blankets  with  us,  made  pillows  out 
of  our  saddles;  gone  three  days.  George  Musser  showed  us 
where  he  and  Brant  opened  200  yds.,  east  road  going  to  Fairfax 
Stone  on  Levering  land,  five  veins  in  same  hill  next  to  Potomac. 
One  vein  near  top  hill  about  8  feet,  thirty  feet  below,  4  foot  vein 
fifty  below  that  vein  appears  7  feet  and  two  small  veins  below. 
On  same  ridge  and  mile  or  more  east  Riordon  opened  vein  about 
8  feet  above,  five  feet  without  stone.  Near  Dobbin  House  (old 
one)  say  one  and  one  half  miles  north,  or  this  side  of  new  house, 
Riordon  opened  vein  almost  8  feet  thick;  looks  black,  pure  and 
good,  little  or  no  slate  in  it.  This  is  the  best  vein  I  have  seen, 
pitches  east,  and  appears  to  underlay  a  large  body  of  land  mostly 
ours.  Parsons  is  now  making  survey  for  our  road  near  or  in  this 
region. 

Public  service  in  the  Legislature  of  West  Virginia  and 
in  the  United  States  Senate  had  not  entirely  diverted 
Senator  Davis  from  his  development  enterprises.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  his  investments  in  coal  and 
timber  lands  were  expanded,  the  railway  project  for  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  97 

line  to  the  southwest  of  Piedmont  conceived,  matured, 
and  its  construction  begun.  In  the  meantime  his  finan 
cial  standing  had  been  strengthened  and  his  position  in 
the  business  world  had  extended  beyond  the  local  com 
munities.  His  political  activities  had  brought  him  into 
•contact  with  men  who  were  known  nationally  and  the 
identification  of  whom  with  any  enterprise  was  certain 
to  secure  for  it  public  confidence. 

In  these  circumstances,  toward  the  end  of  his  second 
term  he  was  able  to  secure  the  necessary  financial  sup 
port,  and  the  company  was  formed  to  build  the  West 
Virginia  Central  and  Pittsburgh  Railway.  Augustus 
Schell,  a  sachem  of  the  Tammany  society  and  an  impor 
tant  figure  in  financial  as  well  as  political  afTairs,  in  New 
York,  had  met  Mr.  Davis  at  several  of  the  Democratic 
national  conventions,  and  there  had  grown  up  a  warm 
friendship  between  them.  Schell  agreed  to  place  part 
of  the  bonds  of  the  proposed  railway.  William  H.  Bar- 
num,  the  Connecticut  capitalist  who  had  served  for  a 
brief  period  as  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Davis,  also  interested 
himself. 

Several  of  the  Senators  with  whom  he  was  on  terms 
of  closest  intimacy  became  stockholders.  Among  these 
were  James  G.  Blaine,  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  J.  N.  Cam- 
den,  William  Pinckney  Whyte,  and  William  Windom. 
Stephen  B.  Elkins  had  been  associated  with  Mr.  Davis 
from  the  time  that  he  had  transferred  his  residence  from 
New  Mexico  to  the  East.  Jerome  B.  ChafTee,  who 
served  in  the  Senate  from  Colorado,  and  who  had  been 
associated  with  Mr.  Elkins  in  business  enterprises  in 
the  Southwest,  joined  the  syndicate.  Senator  Arthur 
Pue  Gorman  was  heavily  interested.  There  were  also 
several  Baltimore  capitalists,  among  them  John  A.  Ham- 
bleton,  the  head  of  a  great  banking  house,  William  Key- 


98  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

ser,  prominent  both  in  Maryland  politics  and  in  railway 
affairs,  and  Major  Alexander  Shaw.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  any  railroad  in  the  country  at  any  time  had  so 
many  men  prominent  in  public  life  and  in  finances  on 
the  Board  of  Directors  as  had  the  West  Virginia  Central 
Railway.  They  were  there  because  of  their  confidence 
in  Henry  G.  Davis. 

That  the  ideas  of  some  of  the  statesmen  identified  with 
the  enterprise  as  to  the  best  methods  of  financiering  were 
not  always  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  the  originator 
of  the  railway,  appears  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Blaine  in 
which  he  said : 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  Elkins  yesterday.  It  is  my  belief  that 
you  have  adopted  the  hardest  mode  of  raising  money  for  the  rail 
road.  I  wish  I  could  talk  with  you  personally  for  an  hour  in  re 
gard  to  the  matter. 

Mr.  Blaine  apparently  had  the  opportunity  for  an 
hour's  talk;  but,  so  far  from  convincing  Mr.  Davis,  he 
was  himself  convinced  that  the  plan  adopted  was  not 
the  hardest,  for  there  is  no  further  reference  in  the  cor 
respondence  to  his  views. 

The  manner  in  which  the  route  for  the  railway  was 
worked  out,  with  proper  regard  for  the  resources  that 
were  to  furnish  traffic,  is  disclosed  in  several  journal  en 
tries.  Their  nature  is  indicated  in  the  following  one : 

October  I,  1880.  Mr.  Elkins,  Mr.  Randolph,  Tom  [brother] 
and  myself  made  a  trip  to  Elk  Garden,  to  examine  our  coal  and 
other  property,  and  the  best  way  for  our  railroad  and  inclined 
plane  to  go  and  take  out  the  big  and  other  vein  coal. 

1.  We  examine  three  routes,  one  running  on  top  of  hill  and 
down  to  river  about  one  mile  above  Deep  Run. 

2.  Next  route  is  through  Mrs.  Dixon's  to  Weasmans,  and  make 
inclined  plane  through  Weasman  to  Deep  River  near  Cranberry 
Run. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  99 

3.  From  big  vein  coal  at  our  opening  No.  I  by  way  of  Barber's 
Ridge  to  Deep  Run;  plane  will  come  down  to  Deep  Run  about 
two  and  one  half  miles  from  Potomac. 

The  last-named  is  my  choice  of  routes;  it  comes  out  on  our 
land,  has  a  No.  I  place  to  land,  and  enables  us  to  open  small 
veins.  Distance  on  all  the  routes  is  about  the  same. 

We  were  pleased  with  our  trip,  and  think  we  have  a  great 
future  to  that  coal  and  lumber  region. 

When  the  construction  work  was  well  under  way,  Mr. 
Davis  invited  some  of  his  associates  to  make  a  horseback 
trip  with  him  over  part  of  the  route,  and  beyond  to 
White  Sulphur  Springs,  which  he  expected  to  reach  ulti 
mately  by  extensions  of  the  line.  The  journey  was  filled 
with  fruitful  incidents  and  was  not  lacking  in  some  hard 
ships  for  the  travelers ;  it  is  all  summed  up  succinctly  in 
a  page  in  the  journal  entries : 

July  19,  1881.  Senators  Bayard,  Camden,  Secretary  Windom, 
Maj.  Shaw,  Baker,  Elkins  and  myself,  etc.  We  had  with  us  Con- 
roy  for  guide  and  John  as  waiter.  Took  blankets  and  provisions 
to  camp  out.  We  left  Deer  Park  and  on  the  tenth  day  arrived 
at  White  Sulphur.  Went  first  night  from  Deer  Park  to  look  at 
coal  opening  near  Fairfax  Stone.  Staid  all  night  at  the  engineer's 
hut  on  Dobbin  Road.  Sleep  on  small  boards  with  saddles  for  pil 
lows.  Next  day  through  Canaan  Valley  and  Meade's  Corners 
that  night.  Next  day  to  2Oth.  Staid  over  night  at  Mullinix's  on 
Dry  Fork.  We  had  trout  for  supper,  breakfast,  dinner. 

22d.  Staid  over  night  at  Mrs.  Hill's;  this  is  near  divide  be 
tween  waters  of  Dry  Fork  and  Laurel  Falls  of  Cheat  and  Green- 
brier.  This  is  a  fine  bluegrass  country,  and  at  east  end  of  Rich 
mountain,  the  highest  point  above  tidewater,  we  christened  Mount 
Bayard  in  honor  of  the  noble  Delaware  Senator. 

23d.  We  stopped  for  the  night  at  what  is  known  as  Trav 
eler's  Repose  on  Greenbrier  River  and  Stanton  and  Parkersburg 
Pike.  Country  tolerably  good. 

24th.  We  stop  over  night  at  Major  Isaac  Moore's  near  Dun- 
more,  Pocahontas  County. 


ioo  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

25th.  Stay  over  night  at  Huntersville,  County  seat  of  Poca- 
hontas  County.  This  is  a  fair  country.  We  passed  through  some 
fair  pine  timber,  and  what  appears  to  be  good  iron  ore.  The 
country  from  Traveler's  Repose  to  White  Sulphur  is  a  remark 
ably  good  country  to  make  a  railroad  through. 

26th.  About  night  we  arrive  at  White  Sulphur  Springs.  All 
well  pleased  with  our  trip. 

There  were  not  only  the  coal  resources  being  de 
veloped.  More  easily  available,  as  the  foundation  for 
industry  and  traffic,  were  the  timber  resources.  A  large 
part  of  Tucker  County  was  absolutely  a  primeval  wilder 
ness.  The  flat  top  of  the  mountain  at  an  elevation  of 
3,000  feet  was  covered  by  almost  impenetrable  forests. 
It  was  literally  true  that  until  Mr.  Davis  began  his  pros 
pecting  and  his  engineering  surveys  a  great  part  of  this 
tangled  wilderness  never  had  been  penetrated  by  man, 
not  even  by  the  aboriginal  savages.  There  were  no 
trails.  The  interlacing  rhododendrons  and  laurels  be 
neath,  and  the  interwoven  vines  and  saplings  above,  ren 
dered  the  wealth  of  spruce  and  hemlock  valueless  until 
trails  were  hewed  and  blazed  by  the  woodmen. 

Blazing  the  trails  was  in  itself  a  work  of  extraordinary 
difficulty,  but  the  very  density  of  the  forest  gave  a  stim 
ulus  to  conquering  it.  There  were  the  spruce  and  the 
hardwoods  first  to  be  opened  by  the  ax,  then  to  be  sub 
jected  to  the  sawmill,  and  later  to  furnish  the  material 
for  the  great  pulp  and  paper  mills.  In  the  heart  of  this 
region  on  the  plateau  was  laid  out  the  town  of  Davis, 
which  at  one  time  was  selected  as  the  terminal  for  the 
railway.  Later  this  plan  was  abandoned,  and  a  branch 
line  was  run  from  the  main  stem  at  the  station  of 
Thomas,  where  were  located  the  coke-ovens. 

The  first  section  of  the  railway,  that  to  the  Elk  Gar 
den  coal-fields,  was  opened  early  in  November,  1881. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  SAVES'  ;to 


It  was  a  momentous  event  for  the  whole  region,  but  it 
is  described  with  customary  brevity  in  the  journal  en 
tries  : 

November  2,  1881.  We  formally  open  our  new  road  (W.  Va. 
C.  &  P.).  We  leave  Cumberland  at  eight  o'clock  by  way  of 
Cumberland  &  Pennsylvania  Road,  come  to  Piedmont,  then  to 
our  junction  (one  mile),  then  up  over  our  road  to  Elk  Garden. 
Day  fine.  We  are  mining  coal;  all  passes  off  well.  Senator 
Bayard,  Governor  Hamilton,  Major  Shaw,  Hon.  S.  B.  Elkins, 
Mr.  Kerens,  C.  P.  Bayard,  J.  A.  Hambleton,  etc.,  accompany  us. 

November  3.  Hambleton,  Kerens,  Shriver  and  Randolph,  the 
latter  two  representing  Baltimore  American  and  Sun,  made  a  trip 
part  in  wagon,  balance  horseback,  to  headwaters  Potomac  and 
Black  Water.  We  returned  to  Deer  Park  Saturday  well  pleased 
with  our  trip.  Coal  and  timber  is  even  beyond  our  expectation. 

In  1884  the  railway  had  been  extended  to  the  site  of 
the  town  of  Davis,  which  within  a  year  had  become  the 
center  of  important  mining  and  lumber  industries.  The 
main  stem  was  thereafter  pushed  forward,  with  some 
short  branches  to  the  mines,  until  the  terminal  point 
which  had  been  decided  on  in  Tygart's  Valley,  in  the 
heart  of  Randolph  County,  was  reached,  and  the  creation 
of  a  thriving  little  city  was  begun.  The  successive  steps 
in  the  construction  of  the  railway  have  been  well  de 
scribed  by  Professor  James  Morton  Callahan  in  his 
"Semi-Centennial  History  of  West  Virginia."  Though 
they  are  principally  of  local  interest,  they  have  a  direct 
bearing  on  railway  development  in  West  Virginia.  Pro 
fessor  Callahan's  account  is  as  follows  : 

The  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Piedmont  up  the  North 
Branch  to  tap  the  undeveloped  resources  of  Randolph  County  was 
proposed  long  before  it  was  accomplished.  The  Potomac  and 
Piedmont  Coal  and  Railway  Company,  incorporated  by  the  Leg 
islature  in  1866,  and  begun  in  1880,  secured  a  new  charter  in 
1881  in  its  new  name,  the  West  Virginia  Central  and  Pittsburgh 


102  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Railway  Company,  which  was  organized  with  H.  G.  Davis  as 
President.  Passing  over  the  divide  beyond  the  headwaters  of 
the  Potomac,  the  new  road  continued  south  of  the  Great  Back 
bone  Mountains  to  Davis  in  the  heart  of  the  hardwood  forests 
by  November,  1884.  Early  in  1889  the  main  line  of  the  road, 
following  the  waters  of  the  wild  and  picturesque  Black  Water 
Run,  was  completed  down  the  Dry  Fork  through  the  mountain 
gap  to  Parsons  on  the  main  branch  of  the  Cheat ;  and  later  in  the 
year,  after  turning  up  Shaver's  Fork  for  a  short  distance,  it 
crossed  Leading  Creek  and  reached  picturesque  Elkins  (pre 
viously  known  as  Leadsville),  whch  was  established  as  a  town 
with  terminal  facilities,  and  has  had  a  steady  growth,  partly  due 
to  the  proximity  of  the  inexhaustive  Roaring  Creek  coal-fields. 
From  Elkins  by  gradual  extensions  one  branch  followed  up  the 
Valley  River,  sending  off  a  smaller  branch  at  Roaring  Creek, 
five  miles  west  of  Elkins,  and  another  returned  eastward  to 
Shaver's  Fork,  which  it  ascended,  until  finding  a  way  through 
Shaver's  Mountain  crossed  to  Glady  Fork,  ascended  it  to  the 
divide,  and  descended  the  west  fork  of  the  Greenbrier  to  Durbin, 
in  Pocahontas.  .  .  .  By  1891  trains  were  running  on  extension 
to  Beverly  and  to  Belington,  where  connection  was  made  with  a 
Tygarts  Valley  branch  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  from  Graf  ton. 
By  1904  connections  were  made  at  Durbin. 

The  new  road,  after  passing  through  Mineral  and  Grant  coun 
ties,  penetrated  the  vast  coal-fields  of  Tucker  and  Randolph.  It 
carried  into  the  silence  of  the  pine-needle  woods  the  hum  of 
modern  industry,  and  expressed  its  material  usefulness  in  gigantic 
lumber  plants  and  rich  coal-mines  and  in  newly  made  and  grow 
ing  towns — living  monuments  to  men  such  as  Windom,  Blaine, 
Gorman,  Bayard,  Wilson,  Fairfax,  Douglass,  Hendricks,  and 
Elkins.  The  opening  of  mineral  and  timber  resources  created 
towns  such  as  Bayard,  Thomas,  Davis,  Douglass,  Hendricks, 
Bantz,  and  Parsons  in  Tucker;  such  as  Montrose  and  Elkins  in 
Randolph;  and  such  as  Belington  in  Barbour.  Bayard  received 
its  earliest  stimulus  from  the  large  Buffalo  Lumber  Company 
and  the  Middlesex  Leather  Company.  Another  factor  in  its 
growth  was  the  North  Branch  Coal  and  Coke  Company,  whose 
principal  office  was  located  there.  At  Thomas  were  located  the 
large  Davis-Elkins  Coal  and  Coke  Works.  Six  miles  eastward, 
on  the  branch  from  Thomas,  the  coal  works  and  manufacturing 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  103 

industries,  together  with  a  tannery  and  lumber  plant,  soon  sup 
ported  a  population  of  1,500,  forming  the  town  of  Davis,  with 
quite  a  mercantile  trade  increased  by  that  of  the  surrounding 
country.  Elkins,  located  in  a  lovely  valley  bordering  the  north 
western  bank  of  Tygarts  Valley  River,  received  its  first  stimulus 
to  growth  by  the  construction  of  engine  and  car  shops  by  the  rail 
way  company,  and  the  erection  of  homes  for  many  operatives  of 
the  road. 

The  completion  of  the  railroad  through  the  timber  to  Davis  and 
beyond  furnished  an  outlet  for  the  timber  in  the  eastern  and 
central  sections,  admitting  portable  and  stationary  sawmills  which 
have  since  continued  to  operate.  Everywhere  temporary  rail 
roads  were  forced  into  the  heart  of  the  woods,  followed  by  saw 
mills,  tanneries,  pulp-mills,  and  lumber-camps  to  aid  in  the  cam 
paign  of  conquest  and  destruction  of  the  previously  unmolested 
forests. 

The  conception  of  the  railway  originally  had  been 
perhaps  that  of  an  adjunct  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio, 
with  which  Mr.  Davis  had  been  so  closely  identified  for 
more  than  a  third  of  a  century.  His  close  personal  rela 
tions  with  the  officials  of  that  road,  and  in  particular  with 
Mr.  John  W.  Garrett,  who  was  then  the  president  of  the 
company,  assured  cooperation  and  friendly  traffic  ar 
rangements. 

After  President  Garrett's  death  some  changes  in  man 
agement  resulted  in  a  less  friendly  policy  on  the  part  of 
the  controlling  interests.  They  made  Mr.  Davis  feel 
that,  since  the  West  Virginia  Central  was  dependent  on 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  for  its  outlet,  he  must  accept 
whatever  traffic  terms  they  chose  to  make.  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  officials  of  a  previous  generation  would  not 
have  taken  this  arrogant  attitude,  for  they  knew  the 
man  with  whom  they  would  have  to  deal ;  but  the  newer 
element  apparently  did  not  know.  They  soon  learned. 

The  West  Virginia  Central's  connection  with  the  Bal 
timore  and  Ohio  was  at  Piedmont.  At  Cumberland, 


104  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

thirty  miles  beyond,  connection  could  be  had  with  th£ 
Pennsylvania  system  and  with  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
Canal.  Almost  before  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  knew  it, 
a  right  of  way  had  been  secured  along  the  Potomac  and 
the  extension  of  the  West  Virginia  Central  to  Cumber 
land  was  begun.  The  building  of  the  line  was  bitterly 
fought  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  in  the  courts,  and 
even  physical  obstructions  to  the  working  parties  on  the 
line  were  resorted  to.  This  kind  of  obstruction  did  not 
stop  men  who  had  absorbed  the  spirit  of  the  determined 
man  for  whom  they  were  working.  The  courts  also  de 
cided  the  litigation  in  his  favor,  and  ultimately  the  West 
Virginia  Central  had  a  through  line  to  Cumberland,  thus 
relieving  the  Davis  interests  of  further  dependence  on  a 
single  line  of  railway  for  their  outlet  to  the  market. 
Having  secured  the  benefits  of  competition,  Mr.  Davis 
resumed  friendly  relations  with  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio, 
but  on  a  different  basis  from  that  which  obtained  when 
his  company  had  been  dependent  on  it. 

Some  extensions  and  branches  that  were  built  on  his 
own  account  later  were  merged  into  the  system.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  was  the  president  of  the  West 
Virginia  Central  system  and  contributed  potently  to  the 
growth  of  the  region  which  when  he  began  its  conquest 
was  open  to  civilization  only  by  scattered  farms  in  the 
narrow  valleys.  This  was  the  work  of  the  Railway 
Builder. 


CHAPTER  VII 

INTERNATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONFERENCES 

Awakening  of  interest  in  the  countries  to  the  south — First  Con 
ference  at  Washington  in  1889—90 — Mr.  Davis  appointed  a  dele 
gate  by  President  Harrison — Andrew  Carnegie  a  colleague — Sec 
retary  Elaine's  address  of  welcome — Organization  and  work  of 
the  Conference — International  banks  and  transportation — Bureau 
of  American  Republics — Mr.  Davis  appointed  by  President  Mc- 
Kinley  delegate  to  the  Mexican  Conference  in  1901-02 — His  as 
sociates — High  character  of  representatives  from  the  other  Re 
publics — Golden  Age  of  Mexico  under  Porfirio  Diaz — Personnel 
of  Mexican  delegation — Tokens  of  respect  for  "The  Senator" — 
Reasons  for  declining  to  be  the  presiding  officer — Speech  on  the 
Monroe  Doctrine — Important  results  achieved — Farewell  tributes 
to  Mr.  Davis. 

PRESIDENT  JAMES  MONROE  promulgated 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  1823,  the  year  in  which 
Henry  G.  Davis  was  born.  Nearly  half  a  cen 
tury  later  Mr.  Davis  became  actively  identified  with  the 
nations  that  came  within  the  sphere  of  the  Doctrine,  and 
continued  to  be  identified  with  their  interests  and  their 
aspirations  for  the  remainder  of  his  long  life.  It  is  not 
apparent  just  what  directed  his  thoughts  to  the  coun 
tries  to  the  south.  It  may  have  been  the  championship 
that  was  given  them  at  the  dawn  of  their  independence 
by  his  early  political  idol,  Henry  Clay.  It  may  have  been 
that  his  association  in  the  Senate  with  statesmen  whose 
eyes  were  turned  southward  first  awakened  his  attention. 
Whatever  the  source  of  the  inspiration,  his  horizon  ex 
panded  from  national  to  international  affairs. 


io6  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

When  Mr.  Davis  was  in  the  Senate  there  were  occa 
sional  resolutions  and  speeches  on  the  need  of  closer 
relations  with  the  sister  nations  of  the  New  World.  The 
Trade  Commission  appointed  by  President  Arthur, 
which  visited  the  South  American  countries  and  reported 
on  the  commercial  prospects,  had  its  inception  during 
his  second  term  in  a  resolution  offered  by  his  colleague, 
Senator  Cockerill  of  Missouri.  Later,  as  a  delegate  to 
the  National  Democratic  Convention  at  Chicago  in  1884, 
he  had  supported  the  resolution  embodied  in  the  plat 
form  favoring  an  American  continental  policy  based 
upon  more  intimate  commercial  and  political  relations 
with  the  Republics  to  the  south. 

During  the  first  administration  of  President  Cleve 
land,  Congress  gave  concrete  expression  to  the  aspira 
tions  for  closer  relations  by  making  provision  for  an  in 
ternational  American  conference  to  be  held  in  Washing 
ton.  The  official  invitations  to  the  several  nations  were 
issued  by  Mr.  Davis's  friend,  Secretary  Bayard.  The 
measures  for  the  assembling  of  the  Conference  fell  to 
President  Harrison's  administration.  Mr.  Davis's  jour 
nal,  without  preliminary  suggestion  of  the  subject,  re 
cords  that  President  Harrison  and  Secretary  Elaine  had 
appointed  him  one  of  the  delegates  for  the  United  States. 

The  Conference  assembled  at  Washington  in  October, 
1889,  and  was  one  of  the  notable  events  of  that  period, 
exciting  interest  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  the  countries  of 
the  New  World  that  participated  in  it.  The  several  Re 
publics  designated  their  resident  Ministers  in  Washing 
ton  as  delegates,  and  supplemented  them  by  other  men  of 
reputation  extending  beyond  their  own  borders. 

Senor  Matias  Romero,  who  had  long  been  the  Mexican 
Minister  to  the  United  States,  and  whose  friendship  with 
General  Grant  had  given  him  much  influence  in  the  years 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  107 

when  Mexico  was  struggling  toward  stability  under  Por- 
firio  Diaz,  represented  that  country.  The  Republic  of 
Brazil,  just  emerged  from  monarchy  after  a  mild  revolu 
tion,  was  represented  by  Salvadore  de  Mendonga,  an  ac 
complished  diplomat.  From  the  Argentine  Republic 
came  Sefior  Roque  Saenz  Pena,  who  afterward  became 
President.  Other  delegates  also  later  filled  important 
roles  in  their  respective  countries. 

President  Harrison  and  Secretary  Elaine  had  been 
at  pains  to  select  a  delegation  that  would  be  representa 
tive  of  both  the  international  element  and  the  business 
classes  in  American  life.  The  chairman  was  John  B. 
Henderson  of  Missouri,  who  had  served  as  United 
States  Senator  and  who  was  an  authority  on  interna 
tional  law.  William  Henry  Trescott  of  South  Carolina, 
the  author  of  important  works  on  the  diplomatic  history 
of  the  United  States,  was  another  representative  of  the 
international  idea.  The  other  delegates  were  Cornelius 
N.  Bliss  of  New  York;  Clement  Studebaker  of  Indiana; 
T.  Jefferson  Coolidge  of  Massachusetts;  Andrew  Car 
negie  of  New  York;  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Virginia; 
M.  M.  Estee  of  California;  John  F.  Hanson  of  Georgia; 
and  Charles  R.  Flint  of  New  York. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Conference,  Secretary  Blaine 
made  a  speech  of  welcome  which  interpreted  the  aspira 
tions  of  the  delegates  and  in  some  measure  indicated 
the  results  that  were  expected  to  follow.  Among  other 
things  Secretary  Blaine  said : 

The  delegates  I  am  addressing  can  do  much  to  establish  perma 
nent  relations  of  confidence,  respect,  and  friendship  between  the 
nations  which  they  represent.  They  can  show  the  world  an  hon 
orable,  peaceful  conference  of  eighteen  independent  American 
Powers,  in  which  all  shall  meet  together  on  terms  of  absolute 
equality ;  a  conference  in  which  there  can  be  no  attempt  to  coerce 


lo8  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  single  delegate  against  his  own  conception  of  his  nation,  a  con 
ference  which  will  permit  no  secret  understanding  on  any  sub 
ject,  but  will  frankly  publish  to  the  world  all  its  conclusions;  a 
conference  which  will  tolerate  no  spirit  of  conquest,  but  will  aim 
to  cultivate  an  American  sympathy  as  broad  as  both  continents. 
And  yet,  we  cannot  be  expected  to  forget  that  our  common  fate 
has  made  us  inhabitants  of  the  two  continents  which,  at  the  close 
of  four  centuries,  are  still  regarded  beyond  the  seas  as  the  New 
World.  Like  situations  beget  like  sympathies  and  impose  like 
duties.  .  .  . 

We  believe  that  we  should  be  drawn  together  more  closely  by 
the  highways  of  the  seas,  and  that  at  no  distant  day  the  railway 
system  of  the  North  and  South  will  meet  upon  the  Isthmus  and 
connect  by  land  routes  the  political  and  commercial  capitals  of 
all  America. 

After  the  organization  of  the  Conference  and  the  ap 
pointment  of  the  committees,  the  delegates  were  taken 
on  an  excursion  through  New  England  and  other  parts 
of  the  country  on  what  was  said  to  be  the  finest  special 
train  that  ever  had  been  put  in  motion.  Mr.  Davis  ac 
companied  the  visitors  on  this  trip.  After  they  returned 
to  Washington,  the  delegates  settled  down  to  somewhat 
intermittent  committee  work.  An  occasional  entry  in 
his  journal  shows  that  Mr.  Davis,  with  his  methodical 
habits  and  his  business  training,  found  some  difficulty  in 
adapting  himself  to  the  leisurely  methods  of  interna 
tional  assemblages.  There  are  good-natured  admoni 
tions  to  his  fellow  delegates  about  the  necessity  of  get 
ting  down  to  work. 

The  principal  committees  on  which  Mr.  Davis  served 
were  those  on  the  Pan-American  Railway  and  on  customs 
regulations,  the  latter  proving  very  important  because 
of  the  recommendations  of  a  permanent  nature  which  it 
made  and  which  were  adopted.  Arbitration  and  other 
subjects  of  a  somewhat  academic  character  occupied 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  109 

much  of  the  attention  of  the  Conference ;  but  at  the  same 
time  there  was  an  influence  in  the  background  guiding 
toward  questions  of  a  practical  kind  such  as  banking 
facilities,  shipping,  and  railway  communication. 

Though  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Banking,  Mr.  Davis  was  called  into  some  of  the  meet 
ings  of  that  committee,  and  also  helped  shape  the  course 
of  the  Conference  in  modifying  and  adopting  the  recom 
mendations  made.  The  Conference  went  on  record  to 
the  effect  that  commerce  between  the  American  countries 
might  be  greatly  extended  if  proper  means  could  be 
found  for  facilitating  direct  exchanges  between  the 
money  markets  of  the  several  countries.  The  advisa 
bility  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passing  a  law 
incorporating  an  international  American  bank  with 
branches  was  discussed  with  special  reference  to  the  fa 
cilities  that  would  be  provided  for  making  investments. 
This  idea  found  fruition  twenty-five  years  later,  when, 
in  consonance  with  the  principle  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Bank  Act,  Congress  authorized  the  national  banks  of 
the  United  States  to  establish  branches  in  foreign  coun 
tries. 

No  more  important  action  was  taken  by  this  Confer 
ence  than  the  adoption  of  the  recommendation  of  the 
Committee  on  Customs  Regulations.  It  was  this  report 
that  provided  for  the  establishment  of  the  International 
Bureau  of  the  American  Republics  as  a  permanent 
agency  for  carrying  forward  the  work  begun  by  the 
Conference.  The  evidences  of  Mr.  Davis's  constructive 
ideas  are  apparent  in  this  report.  Out  of  it  came  the  es 
tablishment  of  the  Bureau  of  the  American  Republics, 
later  to  be  broadened  and  expanded,  with  enhanced  func 
tions  and  an  enlarged  field  of  influence,  into  the  Pan- 
American  Union. 


i  io  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Railway  Com 
munication  was  Sefior  de  Velarde  of  Bolivia;  Mr.  Davis 
was  the  second  member.  The  report  of  this  Committee 
and  its  significance,  as  well  as  Mr.  Davis's  part  in  for 
mulating  it,  are  discussed  in  the  following  chapter. 

The  first  International  American  Conference  con 
cluded  its  labors  in  April,  1890.  Its  sessions,  which  had 
been  opened  by  Secretary  Elaine,  were  brought  to  a  close 
by  a  brief  address  from  him.  Reviewing  the  work  of 
the  Conference,  he  said : 

"It  will  be  a  great  gain  when  we  shall  acquire  that 
common  confidence  on  which  all  international  friendship 
must  rest.  It  will  be  a  greater  gain  when  we  shall  be 
able  to  draw  the  people  of  all  American  nations  into 
close  acquaintance  with  each  other,  an  end  to  be  facili 
tated  by  more  frequent  and  more  rapid  communication. 
It  will  be  the  greatest  gain  when  the  personal  and  com 
mercial  relations  of  the  American  States,  north  and 
south,  shall  be  so  developed  and  so  regulated  that  each 
shall  require  the  highest  possible  advantage  from  the 
enlightenment  and  enlarged  intercourse  of  all." 

The  development  of  closer  relations  among  the  nations 
of  the  New  World,  while  not  exactly  dormant,  was  quies 
cent  during  the  next  decade ;  but,  following  the  war  with 
Spain  for  the  liberation  of  Cuba,  the  importance  of  a 
better  understanding  and  of  more  intimate  intercourse 
again  impressed  itself  on  leaders  of  public  thought  in 
the  United  States. 

President  McKinley,  in  his  annual  message  of  Decem 
ber,  1899,  voiced  this  feeling,  and  diplomatic  methods 
were  employed  to  secure  a  sympathetic  cooperation  on 
the  part  of  the  other  nations.  Mexico  took  the  initia 
tive  in  calling  the  Second  Conference,  and,  Congress 
having  made  provision  for  delegates  from  the  United 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  in 

States,  President  McKinley  and  Secretary  Hay  occupied 
themselves  with  the  selection  of  the  delegation.  Al 
though  the  appointments  were  purely  honorary,  since 
they  carried  no  compensation,  an  ample  number  of  per 
sons  were  willing  to  serve. 

The  delegation  as  appointed  consisted  of  Henry  G. 
Davis,  W.  I.  Buchanan  of  New  York,  Volney  W.  Foster 
of  Illinois,  Charles  M.  Pepper  of  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  and  John  Barrett  of  Oregon.  Mr.  Davis's  comment 
on  his  own  appointment  was  recorded  in  his  journal  un 
der  date  of  April  9,  1901 : 

I  am  just  in  receipt  of  notice,  signed  by  President  McKinley 
and  Secretary  Hay,  that  I  am  appointed  delegate  on  part  of  U.  S. 
to  conference  of  American  Republics  to  be  held  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  October  22,  1901 ;  there  are  five  delegates.  It  is  an  hon 
orable  appointment  without  pay. 

Of  the  other  delegates,  Mr.  Buchanan  had  made  a  high 
reputation  as  Minister  to  the  Argentine  Republic,  and 
at  the  time  was  director  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition 
at  Buffalo;  Mr.  Foster  was  a  business  man  engaged  in 
many  large  enterprises  and  was  familiar  with  Mexico; 
Mr.  Pepper  as  a  journalist  had  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
knowledge  of  Latin- America  in  Cuba;  Mr.  Barrett  was 
just  back  from  the  Orient  where  he  had  served  as  Min 
ister  to  Siam. 

Though  the  appointments  were  made  in  April,  the 
Conference  at  Mexico  was  not  to  meet  until  October. 
When  the  delegates  from  the  United  States  assembled 
in  Washington  to  receive  their  instructions,  the  assassin's 
bullet  had  removed  President  McKinley,  and  President 
Roosevelt  was  the  Executive  under  whose  administra 
tion  this  step  toward  Pan-American  unity  was  to  be 
taken.  He  showed  a  very  live  interest  in  the  prospective 
work  of  the  Conference. 


H2  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Mr.  Davis  was  selected  by  his  associates  as  chairman 
of  the  delegation.  His  fitness  for  the  position  was  fully 
recognized,  and  there  was,  moreover,  the  desire  to  fur 
ther  his  plans  for  giving  impetus  to  the  subject  of  rail 
way  communication  among  the  different  Republics. 

A  special  train  was  provided  by  the  Department  of 
State  when  the  delegates  left  for  Mexico  in  October. 
Since  several  of  the  Ministers  of  the  South  American 
and  Central  American  Republics  in  Washington  had 
been  appointed  delegates  by  their  governments,  and  since 
other  delegates  had  first  come  to  the  United  States,  they 
were  invited  to  be  the  guests  of  the  United  States  dele 
gation  on  the  trip  to  Mexico.  Williams  C.  Fox,  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Republics,  John  Cassell  Williams, 
the  Secretary,  and  Dr.  W.  P.  Wilson  of  the  Philadelphia 
Commercial  Museum  were  the  others  who  were  identified 
with  the  delegation. 

The  meeting  of  the  Conference  in  Mexico  City  was  an 
historic  event.  Because  of  the  acuteness  of  the  question 
of  arbitration  and  the  recognition  of  the  prospective  in 
fluence  of  the  Conference,  all  the  countries  had  selected 
their  delegates  from  among  their  ablest  men.  The  Ar 
gentine  delegation  consisted  of  Garcia  Merou,  the  Min 
ister  to  Washington,  who  was  distinguished  alike  in  the 
public  affairs  of  his  country  and  in  literature;  Lo 
renzo  Anadon,  who  had  served  in  the  Argentine  Senate 
and  had  held  various  official  positions  of  a  fiscal  char 
acter  ;  and  Antonio  Bermejo,  who  had  served  as  a  deputy 
in  the  Congress,  as  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
Minister  of  Justice,  and  who  subsequently  became  one 
of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Bolivia  was  rep 
resented  by  Fernando  P.  Guachalla,  the  Minister  in 
Washington,  who  subsequently  became  President. 

Brazil  sent  one  of  its  most  distinguished  jurists  in  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  113 

person  of  Jose  Hygeni  Duarte  Pereira,  who  had  filled 
many  important  positions  and  was  a  Judge  of  the  Su 
preme  Court.  The  Chilean  delegation  was  composed  of 
Blest  Gana,  who  had  made  a  reputation  in  early  life  by 
his  historical  novels  and  who  for  nearly  forty  years  had 
held  important  diplomatic  positions ;  Emilio  Bello  Code- 
cido,  who  had  been  Secretary  of  State,  and  who  was  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  party  that  had  affiliated  with  Presi 
dent  Balmaceda  in  the  Chilean  civil  war,  and  had  mar 
ried  his  daughter;  Joaquin  Walker  Martinez,  the  Minis 
ter  in  Washington,  who  had  served  in  various  diplo 
matic  capacities,  and  also  in  the  Cabinet  at  Santiago, 
and  Augusto  Matte,  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of 
the  country,  who  had  served  in  the  Chilean  Congress 
and  Cabinet,  and  in  various  diplomatic  positions,  and 
who  was  especially  noted  as  a  financier. 

The  delegates  from  Colombia  were  Carlos  Martinez 
Silva,  the  Minister  in  Washington,  who  had  been  a  dele 
gate  to  the  First  Conference,  and  General  Rafael  Reyes, 
a  distinguished  explorer,  soldier,  and  statesman  who  sub 
sequently  became  President. 

The  Peruvian  delegation  consisted  of  Isaac  Alzamora, 
the  Vice-President  of  the  Republic,  a  facile  orator  who 
had  served  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  and  as  a 
Deputy  in  Congress,  and  who  had  filled  the  chairs  of 
philosophy  and  political  economy  in  the  University  of 
Lima ;  Alberto  Elmore,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
who  had  also  served  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations, 
and  Manuel  Alvarez  Calderon,  the  Minister  in  Washing 
ton,  who  had  won  a  high  reputation  for  his  diplomatic 
ability. 

Ecuador  was  represented  by  Luis  Felipe  Carbo,  Min 
ister  in  Washington,  who  had  also  served  his  country  in 
a  diplomatic  capacity  in  other  countries.  The  represen- 


H4  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

tative  from  Paraguay  was  Cecilio  Baez,  a  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  who  subsequently  served  as  Pres 
ident.  Uruguay  was  represented  by  Juan  Cuestas,  the 
Minister  in  Washington,  who  was  the  son  of  the  Presi 
dent.  The  delegates  from  Venezuela  who  were  present 
for  part  of  the  time  were  J.  Gil  Fortuol,  a  writer  and  his 
torian,  and  Dr.  M.  M.  Galvais,  a  well-known  lawyer. 

The  Central  American  countries  sent  some  of  their 
most  experienced  men.  Costa  Rica  was  represented  by 
Joaquin  Bernardo  Calvo,  the  Minister  in  Washington, 
who  had  served  as  secretary  to  the  delegation  from  his 
country  to  the  First  Conference.  Guatemala  was  repre 
sented  by  Antonio  Lazo-Arriaga,  the  Minister  in  Wash 
ington,  who  had  served  as  Speaker  of  the  Guatemalan 
Congress;  and  Colonel  Francisco  Orla,  who  had  served 
on  the  Government  Boundary  Commission  and  in  the 
Army.  Salvador  sent  Francisco  A.  Reyes,  her  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Baltazar  Estupinian,  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  Congress  and  an  authority  on  interna 
tional  law.  Honduras  was  represented  by  Jose  Leonard, 
a  native  of  Poland  who  had  been  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Heidelberg,  and  who  was  filling  a  scho 
lastic  position,  and  Fausto  Davila,  a  vigorous  exponent 
of  the  progressive  element  in  the  politics  of  the  country. 
The  delegate  from  Nicaragua  was  Luis  F.  Corea,  the 
Minister  in  Washington,  who  had  filled  various  public 
positions. 

The  personnel  of  these  delegations  was  the  indication 
of  the  high  character  of  the  Conference  and  the  im 
portance  that  was  attached  to  its  proceedings.  It  was 
the  Mexican  delegation,  however,  that  contributed  the 
largest  galaxy  of  talent.  As  the  host  of  the  Conference, 
Mexico  sought  to  dignify  its  work  by  the  character  of 
the  men  selected  to  represent  her.  This  was  in  truth 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  115 

the  Golden  Age  of  Mexico  under  Porfirio  Diaz.  The 
signs  of  the  great  work  he  had  wrought  were  every 
where  visible.  The  elements  of  destruction  that  some 
of  them  carried  with  them  were  not  yet  apparent. 

Mexico  then  occupied  a  foremost  position  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  and  this  was  a  fitting  occasion  on  which  to 
give  proof  of  her  position.  President  Diaz  was  sur 
rounded  by  the  group  of  able  men  who  had  grown  in 
public  life  with  him.  Ignacio  Mariscal,  who  had  guided 
the  foreign  relations  of  the  country  from  chaos  through 
infinite  embarrassments  until  by  his  skilful  diplomacy  the 
whole  world  recognized  and  respected  her  international 
status,  was  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations.  Jose 
Yves  Limantour,  who  had  evolved  financial  stability  out 
of  anarchic  finances  until  Mexican  credit  stood  as  high 
as  that  of  the  United  States,  was  Secretary  of  Finance. 
Men  whose  work  was  concerned  chiefly  with  domestic 
measures,  but  whose  constructive  ability  was  equally 
great,  filled  other  Cabinet  positions. 

The  Mexican  delegation  was  of  the  same  type  as  the 
nen  who  formed  the  Cabinet  of  President  Diaz.  Genaro 
Ragiosa,  the  chairman,  was  a  distinguished  lawyer.  Al 
fredo  Chavero  was  noted  as  an  archaeologist,  lawyer, 
and  orator,  and  was  representative  of  the  versatility  of 
Latin  public  men.  Pablo  Macedo,  a  very  able  lawyer, 
was  also  a  popular  orator,  and  was  the  idol  of  what  later 
came  to  be  called  the  submerged  classes.  Joaquin  Cas- 
asus,  a  lawyer  and  political  economist  and  an  authority 
on  finance,  was  also  a  litterateur,  and  had  achieved  repu 
tation  as  a  classical  scholar  by  his  translation  of  Virgil 
into  Spanish  and  as  a  student  of  English  literature  by  his 
translation  of  Longfellow's  "Evangeline."  Emilio 
Pardo  was  a  very  distinguished  lawyer  who  was  then 
serving  in  the  Mexican  Congress.  Rosendo  Pineda  was 


n6  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  leader  in  the  debates  in  Congress.  Jose  Lopez  Portilla 
was  a  member  of  Congress  and  an  authority  on  interna 
tional  law.  Manual  Sanchez  Marmol  was  a  leading 
member  of  Congress  and  was  famous  as  a  wit.  Fran 
cisco  de  la  Barra  was  one  of  the  younger  men  from  whom 
much  was  expected  because  of  his  attainments  in  inter 
national  law  and  his  relations  with  Young  Mexico  and 
the  moderate  clerical  party. 

It  was  in  an  international  assembly  of  this  character, 
representing  all  the  Americas,  that  Mr.  Davis  received 
the  tokens  of  esteem  that  made  the  occasion  memorable 
for  him  and  for  his  countrymen.  He  was  in  his  seventy- 
ninth  year.  This  in  itself  would  have  insured  him  the 
consideration  of  his  fellow  delegates,  for  among  the 
Latin  peoples  the  spirit  of  veneration  for  elders  does  not 
diminish  as  the  fourscore  mark  is  approached.  But 
coupled  with  this  was  a  peculiar  sentiment  of  affection 
which  found  utterance  in  the  designation  of  "The  Sena 
tor"  with  which  he  always  was  referred  to.  There  was, 
moreover,  a  deep  respect  for  his  judgment  and  a  feeling 
of  confidence  in  his  sense  of  justice  that  would  be  espe 
cially  desirable  in  meeting  some  of  the  issues  that  were 
likely  to  provoke  outbreaks  of  feeling. 

The  Conference  was  opened  in  a  notable  address  by 
Minister  Mariscal  on  behalf  of  Mexico,  which  was  fe 
licitously  responded  to  by  Delegate  Alzamora  of  Peru. 
Then  came  the  question  of  selecting  a  presiding  officer. 
General  Rafael  Reyes  of  Colombia,  moved  by  his  deep 
sentiment,  had  informally  suggested  the  choice  of  Mr. 
Davis,  and  this  sentiment  had  been  felt  among  the  other 
delegates.  They  were  privately  advised  that  the  delega 
tion  from  the  United  States,  reflecting  the  views  of  the 
Department  of  State  at  Washington,  and  also  reflecting 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  117 

Mr.  Davis's  personal  wishes,  desired  that  the  honor 
should  go  elsewhere. 

Notwithstanding  that  this  information  was  conveyed 
to  them,  General  Reyes  presented  a  resolution  nominat 
ing  Mr.  Davis  as  permanent  president  of  the  Conference 
and  proposing  that  the  selection  be  made  by  acclamation. 
This  action  would  have  been  taken  had  not  the  United 
States  delegation  as  a  body,  and  Mr.  Davis  individually, 
intervened  to  prevent  it.  Delegate  Pepper,  speaking  in 
Spanish,  thanked  the  delegates  for  the  desire  they  had 
manifested  of  honoring  the  distinguished  Senator  whose 
name  formed  a  link  between  the  First  Conference  and 
the  one  then  in  session,  but  he  explained  why  the  selec 
tion  was  not  expedient. 

Mr,  Davis  himself  ended  the  suggestion  by  a  speech 
in  which  he  said: 

"I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  proposed,  and  I 
thank  you  heartily  for  it,  but  a  consistent  course,  to 
gether  with  a  sense  of  duty,  compels  me  to  say  that  I 
cannot  accept  it.  We  are  here,  not  for  office,  not  for 
preferment  in  any  way,  but  to  assist  all  of  the  Republics 
of  America  in  whatever  may  lead  to  good,  especially  to 
peace,  harmony,  and  good  will  to  all.  We  wish  to  help 
to  cultivate  and  bring  about  a  better  feeling  than  has 
heretofore  existed,  although  even  that  feeling  has  been 
friendly. 

"Our  thought  is  that  we  should  have  additional  com 
munication,  both  water  and  rail;  and  I  want  to  see — 
and  I  believe  all  here  do — an  international  railroad  from 
Argentina  to  the  Rio  Grande.  I  believe  that  harmony 
peace,  and  good  will  will  come  out  of  our  work  here,  and 
that  we  will  find  a  way  to  prevent  any  further  war  on 
this  hemisphere;  that  peace  will  reign  perhaps  forever. 


ii8  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Eighty  million  people  of  the  United  States  stand  ready 
to  assist,  in  any  proper  way  they  can,  to  bring  about  the 
best  results  for  the  good  of  the  American  public. 

"We  are,  as  you  know,  a  happy,  true,  loyal,  independ 
ent,  and  liberty-loving  people,  and  we  say  to  our  friends 
on  our  south  that  we  want  no  further  territory ;  but  we 
are  firm,  as  firm  as  the  Medes  and  Persians  were,  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  means 
that  your  territory  is  to  be  protected,  your  political 
rights,  your  commercial  rights,  and  your  liberty  forever 
guaranteed.  I  feel  more  than  I  can  speak.  I  appreciate 
the  compliment  proffered  me  more  than  I  can  tell  you; 
but,  as  I  have  said  in  the  beginning,  I  think  it  my  duty 
that  I  should  decline/' 

The  Conference  respected  the  Senator's  wishes,  and 
Senor  Raigosa  was  chosen  permanent  chairman.  Mr. 
Davis's  few  pointed  words  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
created  a  sensation  in  the  Conference  at  the  time,  and 
they  were  commented  on,  when  published  in  Europe  and 
in  South  America,  as  an  important  utterance.  They  re 
flected  the  views  that  he  always  held. 

In  the  work  of  the  Conference,  Mr.  Davis  was  fre 
quently  appealed  to  as  a  mediator  in  controverted  ques 
tions  such  as  arbitration.  At  the  First  Conference  the 
United  States  had  favored  compulsory  arbitration. 
Events  of  the  intervening  years  had  changed  its  attitude 
somewhat.  The  skilful  diplomacy  of  Mr.  Buchanan 
aided  the  delegates  to  the  Mexican  Conference  to  travel 
over  this  delicate  ground  without  serious  complications ; 
but  the  confidence  felt  in  the  impartiality  of  the  chairman 
of  the  United  States  delegation  had  much  to  do  with  the 
avoidance  of  a  break  on  the  part  of  'several  delegations. 

Mr.  Davis  served  on  several  of  the  committees,  and 
all  of  these,  when  the  reports  and  recommendations  came 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  119 

to  be  made,  showed  the  impress  of  his  constructive  mind. 
The  project  of  an  international  bank  again  had  the  bene 
fit  of  his  suggestions.  In  everything  that  the  Confer 
ence  did  he  was  looking  to  the  future,  and  this  was  one 
of  the  subjects  that  he  thought  big  with  possibilities. 
Yet  it  was  in  looking  toward  the  broader  future  that  his 
ideas  found  their  fullest  scope.  At  his  suggestion  a 
Committee  on  Committees  was  formed,  of  which  he  was 
named  as  chairman.  This  Committee  submitted  a  re 
port  under  which  provision  was  made  for  continuous 
development  of  intercourse  among  the  three  Americas. 

One  of  the  committees  provided  for  this  purpose  was 
that  on  future  Pan-American  Conferences,  and  during 
the  final  sessions  Mr.  Davis  served  on  this  Committee, 
and  helped  to  formulate  the  resolutions  under  which 
the  continuity  of  Pan-American  Conferences  was  as 
sured.  The  chairmanship  of  the  Pan-American  Rail 
way  Committee  naturally  fell  to  him,  and  the  continuity 
of  this  great  subject  was  assured  when  the  Conference 
adopted  the  report  providing  for  a  permanent  Pan- 
American  Railway  Committee. 

The  Conference  made  a  forward  step  in  several  direc 
tions.  It  provided  for  the  arbitration  of  pecuniary 
claims.  It  formally  gave  its  adherence  to  The  Hague, 
and  it  put  in  operation  the  machinery  of  various  projects 
for  commercial  and  industrial  development.  It  also 
passed  a  resolution  indorsing  the  Panama  Canal. 

As  the  sessions  drew  to  an  end  many  evidences  were 
afforded  of  the  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Davis  was  held. 
He  was  compelled  to  leave  before  the  final  session,  and 
his  departure  afforded  the  occasion  for  a  demonstration 
that  was  extremely  gratifying  to  his  associates.  He  de 
livered  a  brief  farewell  address  in  which  he  said : 

"The  Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States 


120  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

have  followed  with  interest  the  proceedings  of  this  Con 
ference.  They  appreciate  the  many  courtesies  extended 
to  their  delegates,  and  are  pleased  with  the  results  ac 
complished. 

"Personally,  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  officials 
and  people  of  Mexico  and  to  the  delegates  and  all  con 
nected  with  the  Conference  for  the  many  kind  acts  that 
made  my  sojourn  in  this  country  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
experiences  of  my  life.  I  hope  that  the  friendships 
made  here  will  not  terminate  with  the  adjournment  of 
this  Conference,  but  that  we  will  meet  frequently,  and 
that  many  of  us  will  attend  the  next  Pan-American  Con 
gress." 

As  Mr.  Davis  left  the  hall,  every  delegate  rose  to  his 
feet,  and  following  his  departure  the  Conference  adopted 
a  resolution-  recognizing  the  important  services  he  had 
rendered  to  the  union  of  the  American  Republics.  The 
President  of  the  Conference,  as  a  further  honor,  ap 
pointed  a  special  committee  to  accompany  Mr.  Davis  to 
the  railway  station.  In  the  meantime,  he  had  gone  to 
the  National  Palace,  where  President  Diaz  had  invited 
him  for  a  farewell  interview.  The  President  expressed 
his  high  appreciation  of  Mr.  Davis's  services  in  the  Con 
ference.  At  the  railway  station,  not  only  the  members 
of  the  special  committee,  but  virtually  every  member  of 
the  Conference  and  also  many  Mexican  officials,  assem 
bled  to  say  the  final  word  of  farewell.  It  was  a  demon 
stration  that  profoundly  affected  Mr.  Davis,  and  it  was, 
moreover,  a  fitting  conclusion  to  his  active  identification 
with  the  representatives  of  all  the  Americas  in  their  work 
of  promoting  unity  and  fraternity. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   PAN-AMERICAN    RAILWAY 

Intercontinental  trunk  line  the  concept  of  men  of  vision — Mr. 
Davis's  faith  shown  at  the  First  Conference — Activities  on  the 
survey  commission — Value  of  engineering  reconnaissances — Sum 
mary  of  the  route — Support  given  the  project  by  the  Mexican 
Conference — Creation  of  permanent  Pan-American  Railway  Com 
mittee — Its  work — Special  commissioner  authorized  by  Congress 
— His  report  on  status  and  prospects  of  the  enterprise — Chairman 
Davis  analyzes  traffic  and  other  objections — Relation  to  commerce 
and  national  development — Indorsement  by  subsequent  Con 
ferences — Steps  to  interest  capitalists — Approval  by  International 
High  Commission — Link  between  Harrison  and  Wilson  adminis 
trations. 

THERE  are  visionaries  and  there  are  men  of 
vision,  and  usually  the  line  between  them  is  easily 
drawn.     By  many  the  project  of  an  intercon 
tinental  trunk  railway  line  has  been  looked  on  as  the 
dream  of  the  visionaries;  yet  even  the  skeptics  must 
pause  and  give  it  more  than  passing  thought  when  men 
of  vision  turn  their  attention  to  it. 

There  was  nothing  of  the  visionary  in  Henry  G.  Davis. 
A  business  man,  a  developer  of  natural  resources,  a 
builder  of  railways,  with  an  intensely  practical  mind,  he 
was  essentially  a  man  of  vision.  It  was  this  quality  that 
enabled  him  to  see  the  natural  wealth  of  his  own  State 
that  was  awaiting  development.  When  his  view  ex 
panded  and  swept  over  a  whole  hemisphere,  the  Pan- 
American  Railway  project  appealed  to  his  imagination 
with  the  same  force. 

121 


122  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  project  itself  was  not  any  one  man's  conception. 
Statesmen  and  students  of  international  relations  alike 
had  had  it  in  their  ken.  Hinton  Rowan  Helper  of  North 
Carolina  had  given  the  idea  substance  in  his  book  on 
the  "Three  Americas  Railway."  Juan  Jose  Castro,  a 
Uruguayan  engineer  of  eminence,  had,  with  the  aid  of  his 
Government,  brought  together  the  various  factors  in  the 
project  as  they  related  to  South  America.  In  the  United 
States  Senate,  when  Mr.  Davis  was  a  member  of  that 
body,  his  colleague  and  namesake,  David  Davis  of 
Illinois,  had  introduced  a  resolution  intended  to  secure 
recognition  for  the  project.  It  is  probable  that  the  in 
terest  of  Henry  G.  Davis  had  been  awakened  before  then, 
possibly  through  Richard  A.  Parsons,  a  distinguished 
Virginia  engineer  and  railway  builder  who  had  sought  to 
put  the  enterprise  on  a  practical  basis. 

Whatever  the  original  inspiration  may  have  been  it  is 
certain  that  when  he  became  a  member  of  the  First  In 
ternational  American  Conference  the  idea  filled  the  mind 
of  Mr.  Davis,  and  he  was  eager  to  make  use  of  the  op 
portunity  that  it  afforded  to  give  the  project  tangible 
form.  In  accordance  with  his  wishes,  he  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Railroad  Communication, 
which  was  presided  over  by  Sefior  Velarde  of  Bolivia. 
The  report  of  that  Committee  bears  his  impress  through 
out.  In  formulating  it  he  had  the  cooperation  of  An 
drew  Carnegie. 

The  historical  importance  of  this  first  step  in  an  inter 
national  enterprise  with  which  the  name  of  Mr.  Davis 
will  ever  be  associated  justifies  a  special  chapter  on  the 
subject.  The  Committee  in  its  report  said  that  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  ascertain  the  practicability  and 
the  approximate  cost  of  the  line  by  providing  for  an  in 
ternational  commission  to  ascertain  possible  routes,  esti- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  123 

mate  the  cost  of  each,  and  compare  their  respective  ad 
vantages. 

The  report  further  recommended  that  the  railway,  in 
so  far  as  the  common  interests  would  permit,  should  con 
nect  the  principal  cities  in  the  vicinity  of  its  route,  and 
that,  if  this  would  result  in  too  great  a  change  from  the 
general  direction  of  the  main  trunk,  branch  lines  should 
be  surveyed  to  connect  with  the  main  line ;  that  the  execu 
tion  of  a  work  of  such  magnitude  deserved  to  be  further 
encouraged  by  subsidies,  grants  of  land,  or  guaranties 
of  a  minimum  of  interest ;  that  the  expenses  incident  to 
the  preliminary  and  final  surveys  should  be  assumed  by 
all  the  nations  accepting  in  proportion  to  their  popula 
tion;  that  the  railway  should  be  declared  forever  neutral 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  freedom  of  traffic ;  and  that 
as  soon  as  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should 
receive  notice  of  the  acceptance  of  these  recommenda 
tions  by  the  other  governments  it  should  invite  them  to 
name  their  representatives  on  the  Commission  provided 
for,  so  that  it  might  meet  in  Washington  as  early  as  pos 
sible. 

This  provision  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Davis's  fore 
thought.  He  had  little  faith  in  resolutions  and  recom 
mendations  that  did  not  point  the  way  to  carry  them  out. 
After  a  short  debate,  in  which  he  took  a  leading  part, 
explaining  the  main  features  of  the  report,  it  was  unani 
mously  adopted.  The  first  step  had  been  taken  for 
building  the  Pan-American  Railway. 

The  next  step  soon  followed.  It  appears  in  the  entry 
in  the  journal  of  Mr.  Davis,  to  which  is  attached  a  news 
paper  clipping  announcing  the  appointment  of  a  com 
mission  to  provide  for  an  intercontinental  railway  sur 
vey.  This  reads: 


124  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

October  4,  1890.  The  newspaper  slip  shows  President  Har 
rison  and  Secretary  Blaine  have  made  me  one  of  three  commis 
sioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  on  the  Intercontinental 
Railway  Commission.  This  looks  to  building  road  from  U.  S.  to 
all  the  fifteen  independent  States  of  Central  and  South  America. 
I  look  upon  the  work  as  great  and  important  to  the  people  of  all 
the  fifteen  Republics.  Trade  is  now  against  us.  Europe  can 
successfully  compete  with  water,  but  not  with  rail. 

I  intend  to  give  much  attention  and  work  to  the  above  enter 
prise,  and  believe  it  practical ;  know  it  will  be  of  great  value  to 
U.  S.  and  its  people.  I  hope  and  expect  to  live  to  see  this  road 
built  from  here  to  the  most  southern  point  of  South  America, 
and  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor;  now  it  is  about  $100,000,000 
annually  against  us. 

President  Harrison,  following  the  recommendation  of 
the  First  Conference,  had  asked  Congress  for  an  appro 
priation  to  provide  for  the  participation  of  the  United 
States  in  the  Intercontinental  Railway  Commission,  and, 
the  appropriation  having  been  made,  he  designated  Mr. 
A.  J.  Cassatt,  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railway 
System  and  at  the  time  by  common  consent  the  foremost 
railway  executive  in  the  United  States,  as  the  head  of 
the  Commission.  With  Mr.  Cassatt  were  associated 
Henry  G.  Davis  and  Richard  C.  Kerens  of  Missouri. 
George  M.  Pullman  had  expected  to  serve,  but  at  the 
last  moment  was  compelled  to  decline  through  the  ur 
gency  of  private  affairs. 

Others  of  the  countries  interested  had  provided  their 
quota  of  the  appropriation  and  designated  their  repre 
sentatives  on  the  Commission. 

The  Commission  held  its  first  meeting  at  the  Depart 
ment  of  State  on  December  4,  1890.  After  a  brief  ad 
dress  the  organization  was  effected.  'Mr.  Davis  was 
made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  but  he 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  125 

also,  by  special  request,  attended  the  meetings  of  the 
Executive  Committee  which  had  charge  of  the  surveys 
and  engineering  reconnaissances. 

The  Survey  was  organized,  with  William  F.  Shunk 
of  Pennsylvania  as  engineer-in-chief .  Under  his  direc 
tion  separate  survey  parties  were  put  in  the  field  for  Cen 
tral  America,  Colombia,  and  Ecuador.  They  were  un 
der  the  supervision  of  officers  from  the  Engineer  Corps 
of  the  United  States  Army.  The  survey^  corps  made 
reconnaissances,  prepared  data,  and  submitted  maps. 
The  information  thus  gathered  was  of  very  great  value. 
Much  of  it  was  entirely  original  and  covered  fields  of  in 
vestigation  that  had  never  before  been  touched. 

The  Intercontinental  Railway  Commission  held  ses 
sions  from  December,  1890,  until  October,  1894,  when 
its  final  report  was  submitted.  This  report  was  em 
bodied  in  half  a  score  of  volumes  and  maps.  Prelim 
inary  estimates  were  made  for  a  line  running  from  the 
northern  boundary  of  Guatemala  to  the  northernmost 
limit  of  the  railway  system  of  Argentina  so  as  to  form  a 
through  line  connecting  the  railway  systems  of  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  on  the  north  with  the  Argen 
tine  system  on  the  south,  with  branch  lines  connecting 
the  railway  systems  of  Chile,  Brazil,  Paraguay,  and 
Uruguay  with  the  main  line. 

In  the  summary  of  the  surveys  and  reconnaissances 
as  prepared  by  Captain  E.  Z.  Steever,  under  date  of 
January,  1896,  it  was  stated  that  the  distance  from  New 
York  to  Buenos  Aires  by  the  most  available  route,  using 
existing  railways  as  far  as  possible,  was  10,228  miles, 
of  which  4,7/2  miles,  principally  in  the  United  States, 
Mexico,  and  the  Argentine  Republic,  already  were  in 
operation,  leaving  5,456  miles  to  be  built.  The  practica- 


126  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

bility  of  the  work,  both  as  an  engineering  project  and  as 
a  financial  undertaking,  was  declared  to  be  established. 

While  public  interest  was  awakened  by  this  report, 
and  while  the  value  of  the  information  collated  was  ap 
preciated,  no  steps  were  taken  at  the  time  toward  fur 
thering  the  project.  But  the  subject  was  not  allowed  by 
Mr,  Davis  to  be  forgotten.  He  continued  his  efforts  to 
arouse  interest  in  it  until  the  opportunity  came  to  give  it 
further  prominence,  and  also  to  give  it  a  definite  direc 
tion  which  would  insure  that  it  would  not  ever  again  be 
come  dormant.  This  opportunity  was  afforded  when  he 
went  to  Mexico  in  the  midwinter  of  1901-2  as  chairman 
of  the  United  States  Delegation  to  the  Second  Confer 
ence.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Pan-Amer 
ican  Railway  his  enthusiasm  soon  infected  the  other  dele 
gates.  They  felt  that  what  had  long  been  considered, 
if  not  a  dream,  at  least  a  vague  and  indefinable  project, 
was  now  susceptible  of  becoming  a  reality. 

The  report  of  this  Committee,  which  was  principally 
formulated  by  Mr.  Davis,  covered  much  of  the  ground 
that  had  been  made  by  the  Committee  on  Railway  Com 
munications  in  the  First  Conference.  Chairman  Davis 
in  submitting  the  report  summarized  the  reasons  for  its 
adoption  in  twenty  terse  paragraphs,  with  special  refer 
ence  to  the  conditions  as  they  existed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  twentieth  century. 

The  most  significant  feature  of  the  report  was  the 
provision  for  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  Pan- 
American  Railway  Committee  with  headquarters  in 
Washington.  The  president  of  the  Conference,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  resolution  adopted,  named  the  Com 
mittee.  It  consisted  of  Henry  G.  Davis,  chairman;  An 
drew  Carnegie ;  Senor  Don  Manuel  de  Azpiroz,  Mexican 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States;  Senor  Don  Manuel 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  127 

Alvarez  Calderon,  Peruvian  Minister  to  the  United 
States;  and  Senor  Don  Antonio  Lazo  Arriaga,  Guate 
malan  Minister  to  the  United  States. 

The  project  having  thus  been  given  permanency,  the 
energy  of  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  did  not  per 
mit  its  work  to  lapse.  It  was  considered  desirable  to 
have  a  report  on  the  whole  enterprise  as  it  then  stood, 
and  on  the  attitude  of  the  various  governments  toward 
it,  as  well  as  to  acquaint  them  with  the  friendly  policy 
of  the  United  States. 

Several  meetings  of  the  Permanent  Committee  were 
held  in  the  winter  months  of  1903,  and  it  was  determined 
to  secure,  if  possible,  the  positive  approval  of  Congress. 
A  provision  accordingly  was  inserted  in  one  of  the  appro 
priation  bills  through  the  aid  of  Mr.  Cannon,  the  chair 
man  of  the  House  Committee  on  Appropriations,  and 
Mr.  Allison,  the  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee,  by 
which  this  indorsement  was  secured.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  the  slight  amount  thus  provided,  the  funds  for 
the  work  were  supplied  by  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Carnegie. 
Mr,  Charles  M.  Pepper  was  the  choice  of  the  Committee, 
and  also  of  Secretary  Hay,  to  visit  the  several  countries. 
He  was  especially  commissioned  by  President  Roosevelt, 
under  the  authority  of  Congress,  and  thus  became  the 
representative  not  only  of  the  Pan-American  Railway 
Committee,  but  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

Commissioner  Pepper  spent  a  year  in  visiting  the 
southern  countries,  during  which  his  labors  were  facili 
tated  by  the  several  governments.  He  was  able  to  ex 
plain  to  them  the  view  taken  of  the  project  by  the  United 
States,  to  offer  suggestions  of  a  practical  nature  in  re 
gard  to  their  own  measures  of  cooperation,  and  to  supply 
them  with  information  in  regard  to  what  was  being  done 
in  other  countries.  On  his  return  he  made  a  full  re- 


128  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

port,  which  was  transmitted  to  Congress  by  the  Presi 
dent  and  was  translated  into  Spanish. 

This  report  reviewed  the  events  that  had  stimulated 
the  project  since  the  First  Conference,  with  special  ref 
erence  to  the  value  of  the  work  of  the  Intercontinental 
Survey,  which,  as  a  comprehensive  study  of  railway  de 
velopment  in  Central  and  South  America,  had  been  of 
special  benefit  in  various  exploitation  enterprises  collat 
eral  to  railway  building,  and  also  had  formed  the  ground 
work  for  further  studies  by  geographical  societies,  scien 
tific  commissions,  government  engineers,  and  individuals. 
Analysis  was  made  of  the  railway  policies  of  the  several 
governments,  with  detailed  information  concerning  the 
progress  of  actual  construction.  It  was  shown  that 
there  had  been  an  increase  in  mileage  along  the  line  of 
the  main  trunk,  so  that  the  total  distance  that  remained 
to  be  closed  up  between  New  York  and  Buenos  Aires  had 
been  shortened  some  five  hundred  miles  since  the  sum 
mary  made  by  Captain  Steever  of  the  Intercontinental 
Survey. 

The  publication  of  this  report  awakened  fresh  inter 
est  in  the  United  States,  and  in  Europe  it  also  attracted 
attention  to  the  existence  of  the  permament  Pan-Ameri 
can  Railway  Committee.  Chairman  Davis  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  interest  aroused,  and  in  March,  1905, 
gave  a  dinner  to  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the 
Latin-American  countries  and  to  others,  at  which  the 
entire  project  was  reviewed.  Mr.  Davis  himself  reit 
erated  his  faith  in  the  ultimate  realization  of  the  idea. 
Senator  Elkins  added  his  word  of  confidence,  saying  that 
the  project  was  no  longer  a  dream,  no  longer  a  prophecy, 
since  its  consummation  so  long  looked  for  now  seemed 
practicable  and  possible.  The  diplomatic  representa 
tives  of  the  Latin-American  Republics  in  their  addresses 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  129 

took  occasion  to  express  their  appreciation  of  Mr.  Davis, 
and  they  drank  a  toast  to  him  as  the  man  who  with  the 
utmost  zeal  worked  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  inter 
continental  railroad. 

An  incident  of  this  dinner  was  a  letter  from  Andrew 
Carnegie,  who  was  unable  to  be  present,  in  which  he 
urged  that  the  United  States  should  give  the  hundred 
million  dollars  then  spent  on  the  Navy  toward  the  Rail 
way,  conditioned  upon  the  South  American  Republics 
pledging  their  credit  for  an  equal  sum.  Afterward,  in 
a  letter  to  the  New  York  Tribune,  Mr.  Carnegie  elab 
orated  this  view,  maintaining  that  the  Railway  would  be 
a  more  effective  means  of  maintaining  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine  than  warships.  He  also  urged  the  project  on  other 
grounds,  both  sentimental  and  practical,  saying  that  it 
would  enormously  increase  our  trade,  and  that  direct 
lines  of  steamers  to  South  American  ports  would  nat 
urally  follow. 

In  the  discussion  growing  out  of  the  activities  of  the 
Pan-American  Railway  Committee,  Mr.  Davis  was  fre 
quently  confronted  with  the  geographical  conditions  that 
were  alleged  to  make  through  traffic  over  an  intercon 
tinental  trunk  line  impracticable  as  a  business  proposi 
tion.  Some  of  his  associates  in  large  railway  enter 
prises  would  good-humoredly  suggest  that  diamonds  as 
through  freight  from  New  York  to  Buenos  Aires  would 
be  the  only  traffic  that  would  pay.  He  was  fully  alive 
to  the  traffic  objections  to  the  project  as  well  as  to  the 
engineering  difficulties,  but  he  understood  better  than 
most  of  his  critics  the  collateral  questions  connected  with 
the  subject,  and  he  also  appreciated  the  indirect  influence 
and  the  political  or  national  objects  that  would  be  sub 
served  by  the  several  countries  through  the  construction 
of  the  line. 


130  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

In  an  article  published  in  the  North  American  Review 
for  May,  1906,  he  reviewed  the  proposition  on  its  busi 
ness  side,  with  incidental  allusion  to  its  historical  and 
sentimental  aspect.  This  article  presents  the  best  sum 
mary  of  his  views  that  he  ever  made,  and  some  parts  of 
it  are  quoted  below  in  their  entirety : 

It  is  proper  to  take  into  account  the  general  subject  and  founda 
tion  of  the  proposed  intercontinental  trunk  line  and  branches. 
The  basis  is  a  business  one,  whether  looked  at  from  the  stand 
point  of  the  individual,  of  a  single  nation,  or  of  the  group  of 
nations  which  constitute  the  American  continent.  Railroads  are 
built  to  earn  dividends.  For  the  body  of  stockholders  the  divi 
dends  must  depend  on  the  net  earnings  to  be  obtained  from  the 
traffic  that  either  already  exists  or  is  created.  The  capitalists 
who  supply  the  funds  may  have  additional  reasons  resulting 
from  their  ownership  of  mines,  of  timber  areas,  or  of  agricul 
tural  regions  whose  products  can  only  be  made  marketable  by 
providing  means  of  communication.  Sometimes,  therefore,  their 
investments  do  not  depend  solely  on  the  actual  net  earnings.  Yet 
the  increased  value  of  lands  and  the  market  obtained  for  their 
products  of  every  kind  are  only  another  form  of  dividends. 

For  a  nation,  the  dividends  cannot  be  estimated  in  direct  terms 
of  interest  on  bonds,  or  of  net  earnings  for  capital  stock.  For  it, 
the  dividends  are  the  development  of  the  local  resources,  the 
wider  market  obtained  for  the  products  of  the  country,  the  in 
crease  of  the  population  through  immigration,  and,  in  a  word, 
the  addition  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation.  There  is  also  the  divi 
dend  which  cannot  be  estimated  in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents 
because  it  comes  from  a  better  knowledge  which  the  people  of 
the  different  regions  of  the  country  obtain  of  one  another,  and 
from  the  cultivation  of  the  national  patriotic  spirit.  This  is  a 
clear  case  of  the  influence  of  frequent  and  cheap  communication 
among  diverse  sections  of  the  country. 

It  is  because  of  the  addition  to  the  wealth  of  a  nation  by  de 
veloping  its  resources,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  patriotic 
bonds  which  bind  the  different  sections  and  their  inhabitants 
more  closely  together,  that  all  the  progressive  elements  have 
aided  railway  construction.  This  will  always  be  the  policy  of  a 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  131 

new  country  with  undeveloped  resources,  or  of  an  old  country 
which  seeks  to  become  a  modern  nation.  It  is  this  feeling  which 
caused  the  United  States  to  spend  four  hundred  thousand  dollars 
on  surveys  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  long  before  any  feasible 
plans  for  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  were  attracting  the  attention  of 
capitalists,  and  later  developed  into  a  definite  national  policy 
when  the  Pacific  Railways  were  aided  by  enormous  land  grants, 
subsidies,  and  bond  guaranties.  When  the  first  transcontinental 
line  was  constructed  many  wise  men  doubted  whether  there  ever 
would  be  traffic  enough  to  pay  the  operating  expenses.  .  .  . 

The  international  like  the  national  dividends  are  wider  markets 
and  the  enlarged  trade  which  come  from  increasing  the  means  of 
intercourse  between  different  countries.  A  better  understanding 
by  one  people  of  another  people  is  certainly  a  desirable  result, 
and  this  is  secured  by  furnishing  means  of  communication.  The 
international  dividend  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  dollars  and  cents 
in  the  way  of  more  commerce,  and  of  peace  in  the  way  of  avoid 
ing  misunderstandings  which  come  from  lack  of  intercourse. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  the  proposed  Pan-American  Railway 
may  be  said  to  offer  returns  to  the  individual,  to  the  nations  as 
separate  Republics,  and  to  them  as  a  part  of  the  family  of  na 
tions  of  the  western  hemisphere.  But  the  question  at  the  root 
of  railroad  building  always  must  relate  to  the  commercial  ad 
vantages,  that  is,  to  the  traffic.  It  is  not  often  that  a  rail  line  is 
built  for  traffic  that  already  exists.  Freight  follows  the  rail  line. 
The  railway  creates  tonnage,  and  tonnage  is  commerce  both  local 
and  international. 

He  then  analyzed  the  commerce  of  Mexico,  Central 
America,  and  South  America  with  the  United  States, 
with  the  purpose  of  showing  its  relation  to  railway  fa 
cilities.  In  discussing  this  phase  of  the  subject  he  took 
up  the  matter  of  steamship  service : 

What  will  be  noted  in  any  detailed  analysis  of  trade  returns  is 
that  commerce  grows  in  the  ratio  in  which  increased  facilities  are 
given  not  merely  to  steamship  service  but  more  especially  to  means 
of  railway  communication.  The  steamship  service  from  its  na 
ture  is  of  little  benefit  in  developing  the  interior  of  the  country. 


132  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  coast-line  does  not  furnish  a  large  traffic,  and  the  points  not 
reached  by  railroad  create  little  tonnage.  When  this  tonnage  has 
to  be  brought  to  the  market  by  pack  mules  or  wagon  carts  the 
cost  is  often  equal  to  the  value  of  the  product.  The  railway  picks 
up  freight  every  few  miles,  but  the  steamship  service  of  South 
America  on  an  average  requires  a  land  haul  of  one  hundred  and 
-fifty  miles  each  way,  or  three  hundred  miles  in  all.  This  is  one 
reason,  and  a  strong  one,  why  intercontinental  railway  develop 
ment  through  railway  connection  is  desirable. 

A  common  illustration  familiar  to  all  railway  builders  and 
traffic  managers  is  that  of  the  team  with  the  load  of  wheat,  which, 
by  the  time  the  point  of  shipment  has  been  reached,  has  eaten 
up  all  the  wheat.  The  same  principle  applies  in  mines.  Iron 
ore,  coal,  copper,  silver,  may  exist  in  great  quantities  in  certain 
localities,  but  the  mines  never  will  be  worked  where  the  cost  of 
transporting  the  ore  is  greater  than  the  amount  received  for  it. 
It  is  railway  lines  that  make  it  profitable  to  develop  the  mines, 
and  the  traffic  from  this  source  is  always  to  be  considered  in 
providing  for  railway  systems.  This  probably  is  more  especially 
necessary  with  regard  to  the  localities  to  be  reached  by  the  Pan- 
American  system  than  with  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

The  Pan-American  routes  as  surveyed  parallel  the  Pacific  coast 
along  the  trend  of  the  Andes,  but  they  provide  for  branches  or 
feeders  which  will  shoot  out  toward  the  Atlantic  as  well  as  to 
ward  the  Pacific.  If  their  construction  is  much  more  difficult 
and  costly  than  when  the  water  line  can  be  followed,  there  is  in 
its  business  aspect  the  value  of  the  traffic  that  comes  from  the 
tonnage  of  mineral  regions.  This  tonnage  is  of  the  kind  that 
quickly  pays  for  itself. 

The  Third  Pan-American  Conference  met  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro  in  September,  1906,  and  was  made  historic  by 
the  presence  of  Secretary  Elihu  Root  and  the  consequent 
impetus  that  was  given  to  the  relations  of  the  United 
States  with  the  countries  to  the  south.  For  that  Con 
ference  Chairman  Davis  prepared  a  full  report  review 
ing  not  simply  the  activities  of  the  permanent  Pan-Amer 
ican  Railway  Committee,  but  giving  also  the  progress  in 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  133 

the  way  of  actual  construction.  The  Conference  ap 
pointed  a  special  committee  on  the  subject,  which  ac 
cepted  the  report,  made  recommendations  along  the  line 
of  previous  Conferences,  commended  the  work  of  Chair 
man  Davis  and  the  committee,  and  recommended  that  it 
be  continued.  This  resolution  was  adopted  with  many 
manifestations  of  appreciation. 

Following  the  indorsement  of  this  Conference,  Chair 
man  Davis  continued  his  work  both  along  educational 
and  along  practical  lines.  In  February,  1909,  he  gave 
a  dinner  in  Washington  to  the  Pan-American  Railway 
Committee,  and  his  expectations  are  thus  recorded  in  his 
journal : 

February  9,  1909.  On  7th  inst.  I  gave  a  dinner  to  Pan-Amer 
ican  Railway  Committee.  I  am  encouraged  to  think  we  may 
soon  be  able  to  move  towards  the  building  of  the  gap,  at  least  the 
Panama  Canal. 

This  dinner  was  followed  by  a  visit  to  New  York  to 
talk  over  the  subject  with  George  F.  Baker,  the  president 
of  the  First  National  Bank,  with  whom  he  had  been  for 
many  years  intimately  associated  in  financial  matters, 
H.  P.  Davison  of  J.  P.  Morgan  and  Company,  and  Frank 
A.  Vanderlip.  The  entry  in  his  journal  records  the  en 
couragement  he  received : 

February  10,  1909.  Call  on  Messrs.  Baker,  Vanderlip  and 
Davison  in  the  interest  of  Pan-American  Railway.  Mr.  Baker 
said  he  would  join  Mr.  Davison  and  Mr.  Vanderlip.  Mr.  Davi 
son  said  he  not  only  favored  but  they  would  join  in  building  the 
road.  Mr.  Vanderlip  was  in  favor  and  would  join  in  building 
road.  ...  I  was  well  pleased.  The  three  are  the  best  men  in 
New  York,  or  elsewhere. 

Unsettled  financial  conditions  in  the  United  States 
and  uncertainty  as  to  the  willingness  of  Congress  to 


134  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

grant  a  charter  of  the  character  desired  prevented  the 
cooperation  of  the  capitalists  mentioned  in  taking  hold  of 
the  project  at  that  time.  Nevertheless,  the  energies  of 
Chairman  Davis  continued  to  be  directed  toward  giving 
the  project  concrete  form  as  an  international  enterprise 
to  be  supported  by  the  several  governments  which  would 
be  interested  through  their  geographic  and  other  situa 
tion.  He  had  several  interviews  with  President  Taft 
and  Secretary  Knox,  both  of  whom  gave  hearty  support 
to  his  plarjs.  Secretary  Knox  especially  exerted  himself 
in  seeing  that  its  importance  be  realized  by  the  Fourth 
Pan- American  Conference,  which  met  at  Buenos  Aires 
in  September,  1910,  and  the  United  States  delegation 
received  special  instructions  on  the  subject.  To  this 
Conference  Chairman  Davis,  on  behalf  of  the  perma 
nent  Pan-American  Railway  Committee,  presented  a  re 
port  showing  the  further  progress  that  had  been  made 
since  the  previous  Conference. 

The  Buenos  Aires  Conference  confirmed  the  resolu 
tions  taken  by  its  predecessor  on  the  subject,  acknowl 
edged  the  important  services  that  the  permanent  Pan- 
American  Railway  Committee  had  rendered,  and  con 
tinued  its  existence.  It  also  further  charged  the  Com 
mittee  with  the  collection  of  fresh  data  and  recommended 
the  countries  interested  to  cooperate  with  the  Commit 
tee  with  a  special  view  to  preventing  the  project  from 
being  abandoned  to  the  isolated  action  of  each  of  the 
countries  especially  interested  in  it. 

Following  the  action  of  the  Buenos  Aires  Conference, 
the  Committee,  under  the  direction  of  Chairman  Davis, 
continued  its  activity,  in  which  it  had  the  cooperation 
of  the  Department  of  State.  Meetings  were  held  during 
the  subsequent  year,  at  which  the  progress  in  actual 
construction  was  reported  and  measures  were  taken  to 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  135 

secure  further  cooperation  by  the  several  governments. 
It  had  been  intended  to  present  a  report  to  the  Fifth 
International  American  Conference,  which  was  to  meet 
at  Santiago,  Chile,  in  1915 ;  but  the  postponement  of  this 
Conference  because  of  the  unsettled  conditions  resulting 
from  the  hostilities  in  Europe  rendered  its  preparation 
unnecessary.  Means  were  found,  however,  for  keep 
ing  the  project  alive.  When  the  Pan-American  Finan 
cial  Conference  met  in  Washington  in  the  spring  of 

1915,  reports  were  made  by  the  respective  delegations 
on  railway  conditions  in  their  countries,  and  the  ma 
jority  of  them  gave  prominence  to  the  relation  of  the 
railway  construction  to  the  Pan-American  project. 

Out  of  the  Financial  Conference  grew  the  Interna 
tional  High  Commission,  a  permanent  body.  Members 
of  this  Commission,  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
at  their  head,  visited  South  America  in  the  spring  of 

1916.  A  special  committee  investigated  the  Pan-Amer 
ican  Railway  project  and  reported  on  measures  to  en 
courage  it  along  the  lines  that  the  permanent  Committee 
was  following.     Secretary  McAdoo  indorsed  this  re 
port.     The  work  that  Chairman  Davis  had  undertaken 
during  President  Harrison's  administration  was  thus 
carried  forward  to  President  Wilson's  administration, 
with  the  full  recognition  that  it  was  the  great  idea  not 
of  a  visionary  but  of  a  man  of  vision. 


CHAPTER  IX 

POLITICAL   ACTIVITIES   AS   A    PRIVATE   CITIZEN 

Support  of  Senator  Bayard  in  1884 — Cleveland's  nomination  at 
Chicago — Talk  of  Mr.  Davis  for  Vice-President — He  urges 
Hendricks — Campaign  work — Visit  to  Albany — Explanation  of 
his  interest  in  Mr.  Elaine — National  conventions  in  1888 — 
Prophecy  of  Harrison's  nomination — Mr.  Davis  declines  to  be  a 
candidate  for  Governor — Visit  to  the  President-elect  at  Indian 
apolis — Cabinet  suggestions — Campaign  of  1892 — Disruption  in 
the  Democratic  party — Support  of  Bryan  and  Free  Silver  in  1896 
— West  Virginia  politics — View  of  national  election  in  1900. 

BUSINESS  enterprises,  exacting  as  they  were,  did 
not  monopolize  the  attention  of  Mr.  Davis  after 
his  retirement  from  the  Senate.  His  interest 
in  public  affairs  continued  unabated.  The  duty  of  a 
citizen  was  never  neglected  by  him.  He  liked  politics. 
He  participated  in  the  primaries  and  in  the  local  cam 
paigns  as  well  as  those  in  which  larger  issues  were  in 
volved.  His  political  activities  during  the  twenty  years 
after  he  left  the  Senate  give  a  panoramic  view  of  the 
politics  of  the  nation  and  of  his  own  State  of  West 
Virginia. 

He  took  part  in  conference  and  caucuses,  attended  con 
ventions,  declined  suggestions  and  pleas  that  he  himself 
become  a  candidate  for  several  offices,  wrote  letters  to 
the  newspapers,  and  made  speeches.  Nor  was  his  hori 
zon  confined  to  his  own  party.  He  was  a  keen  observer 
of  the  tendencies  and  movements  in  the  other  organiza 
tion,  and  the  warm  friendships  he  had  formed  with  many 

136 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  137 

leading  Republicans  gave  a  touch  of  personal  interest. 
The  political  history  of  the  country  almost  might  be 
sketched  from  the  activities  and  the  observations  of  Mr. 
Davis  during  this  period. 

Senator  Bayard  was  his  choice  for  the  Democratic* 
nomination  in  1884.     This  was  partly  the  outgrowth  of 
their  association  in  the  Senate,  and  partly  due  to  the 
conservative  character  of  both  men  in  their  views  on 
public  issues. 

Mr.  Davis,  as  usual,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
West  Virginia  delegation  to  the  Democratic  National 
Convention.  After  his  election  as  a  delegate  to  this 
Convention  he  began  to  interest  himself  actively  in  be 
half  of  Mr.  Bayard.  The  progress  of  the  campaign  for 
the  nomination  is  indicated  in  his  journal : 

June  27,  1884.  I  returned  from  New  York  this  morning.  On 
Monday  night  about  a  dozen  of  Mr.  Bayard's  friends  met  at  his 
house  at  dinner.  By  his  request  Senators  Gorman,  McPherson, 
and  myself  go  to  New  York  in  Senator  B's  presidential  interest. 
Convention  meets  8th  prox.  at  Chicago.  I  am  a  delegate.  We 
find  Bayard  has  a  number  of  good  reliable  friends  in  New  York, 
among  them  Aug.  Belmont,  W.  R.  Traverse,  John  Kelly. 

It  looked  to  us  as  if  Gov.  Cleveland  had  a  majority  of  the  New 
York  delegation.  Flower  has  considerable  following.  Tammany 
is  opposed  to  Cleveland.  Brooklyn  or  Kings  County  has  not 
elected  anyone.  Upon  the  whole,  Bayard's  chance  is  only  tol 
erable,  owing  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  country  is  disposed  to 
go  for  whoever  New  York  asks  for. 

At  the  Chicago  Convention  Mr.  Davis  exerted  him 
self  vigorously  for  his  candidate,  but  his  statement  that 
Bayard's  chance  was  only  tolerable  was  borne  out  by 
the  results.  Delegates  from  other  parts  of  the  country 
did  not  accept  the  plea  made  by  Tammany  that  Governor 
Cleveland,  if  nominated,  could  not  carry  New  York 


138  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

State.  The  unit  rule  was  enforced  and  the  Tammany 
delegates  and  other  opponents  of  Cleveland  in  the  New 
York  delegation  were  voted  solidly  for  his  nomination. 

On  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Bayard  received  170  votes. 
On  the  second,  when  Governor  Cleveland  was  nom 
inated,  he  had  Siy2  votes.  Mr.  Davis  and  one  of  his 
West  Virginia  colleagues,  Mr.  Beale,  were  among  those 
who  voted  for  Bayard  on  both  ballots. 

Following  the  nomination  for  President,  the  candi 
date  for  Vice-President  was  discussed  in  the  usual  as 
pect  of  availability  as  to  geography  and  personality. 
Some  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  warmest  supporters  turned  to 
West  Virginia,  while  others  looked  to  Indiana.  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks  was  the  available  candidate  from  Indiana, 
although  some  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  friends  were  irritated 
with  him.  Others  were  not  very  kindly  disposed  toward 
Mr.  Davis  because  of  the  persistence  he  had  shown  in 
supporting  Mr.  Bayard.  It  was  known,  however,  that 
he  would  be  very  acceptable  to  Tammany  and  to  the 
element  in  New  York  that  had  been  opposed  to  Cleve 
land. 

A  conference  was  held  which  was  attended  by  ex-Sen 
ator  W.  H.  Barnum  of  Connecticut,  ex-Senator  Francis 
Kernan  and  Smith  Weed  of  New  York,  John  Kelly,  the 
Tammany  leader,  W.  L.  Scott  of  Pennsylvania,  Senator 
Gorman,  George  L.  Converse  of  Ohio,  and  others.  They 
sent  for  Mr.  Davis,  who  advised  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Hendricks.  His  recital  of  the  circumstance  is  found  in 
a  very  brief  comment  accompanying  some  newspaper 
clippings  in  his  journal,  to  this  effect : 

From  the  newspaper  extracts  it  will  be  seen  that  the  nomination 
for  Vice-President  was  between  Mr.  Hendricks  and  myself.  No 
friend  or  myself  made  any  move  for  my  nomination;  it  came 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  139 

from  Gov.  Cleveland's  friends  unsought  by  me.     I  am  told  that 
W.  L.  Scott,  of  Pa.,  made  an  earnest  effort  in  my  behalf. 

While  Mr.  Davis  was  deeply  interested  in  the  nomina 
tion  of  the  candidate,  he  was  also  quite  solicitous  about 
the  platform  which  should  be  adopted,  and  particularly 
what  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the  tariff.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  served  on 
the  sub-committee  which  formulated  the  platform  that 
the  Convention  adopted.  He  records  its  action  quite 
briefly : 

Sub-committee — General  B.  F.  Butler,  Massachusetts ;  Hon.  A. 
S.  Hewitt,  New  York;  Hon.  W.  R.  Morrison,  Illinois;  Henry 
Watterson,  Kentucky;  Governor  Morton,  Nebraska;  General 
Burke,  Louisiana ;  Hon.  G.  L.  Converse,  Ohio ;  H.  G.  Davis,  West 
Virginia.  We  were  about  48  hours  in  session,  and  at  last  agreed, 
less  Gen.  Butler. 

Mr.  Davis  took  his  customary  part  in  the  campaign  in 
his  State,  attending  among  other  conventions  the  con 
gressional  convention  in  his  district  which  nominated 
for  the  House  of  Representatives  William  L.  Wilson, 
who  was  afterward  to  become  famous  as  the  author  of  a 
tariff  bill  with  which  Mr.  Davis  did  not  agree. 

In  October,  in  answer  to  a  personal  letter  from  Gov 
ernor  Cleveland,  Mr.  Davis  went  to  Albany  to  confer 
about  the  prospects.  His  account  of  the  meeting  is  given 
in  a  characteristic  entry  in  his  journal: 

October  12.  In  response  to  letter  of  Gov.  Cleveland,  I  went  to 
New  York  and  got  Mr.  Gorman  to  telegraph  I  was  there.  Gov. 
Cleveland  asked  me  to  come  from  cars  to  Executive  Mansion, 
which  I  did;  found  the  Governor  waiting  dinner  for  me.  We 
dined  together,  no  one  else  present.  I  was  much  pleased  with 
the  man  and  the  way  he  received  me.  We  talked  over  the  sit 
uation  and  men  generally  for  two  or  three  hours.  We  concluded 
chances  for  Ohio  were  one  in  three,  and  West  Virginia  nine  out 


140  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  ten.     Election  in  Ohio  and  West  Virginia  takes  place  October 
14;  presidential  election  November  4. 

The  outcome  in  those  two  States  was  indicated  in  the 
following  journal  entry: 

October  18.  The  result  of  October  election  in  Ohio  and  West 
Virginia  is  now  known,  Ohio  being  Republican  and  West  Vir 
ginia  Democrat;  makes  it  a  draw  and  very  uncertain  who  will 
succeed  in  November  election.  Chances  favor  (slightly)  Mr. 
Elaine. 

The  tension  throughout  the  country  over  the  closeness 
of  the  election  is  shown  in  these  extracts  from  the 
journal : 

November  5.  Yesterday  was  general  election  day  all  over  U. 
S.  for  Presdt.  and  Vice-Presdt.  All  passes  fairly  quiet.  Con 
test  very  close.  Not  fully  known  to-day  who  is  elected,  but 
general  impression  is  Cleveland  and  Hendricks.  New  York  State 
is  very  close,  and  whichever  way  it  goes  will  decide  election. 

November  12.  Owing  to  New  York  State  being  very  close 
between  Elaine  and  Cleveland,  there  is  now  an  official  count 
going  on.  Cleveland  has  upon  face  1,200  or  1,300  majority,  and 
it  is  generally  conceded  he  is  elected. 

In  this  campaign  Mr.  Davis's  position  was  a  peculiar 
one.  Mr.  Elaine  was  his  warm  personal  friend  and 
business  associate.  The  chairman  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee  was  his  son-in-law,  Stephen  B.  El- 
kins.  But  as  a  leader  and  a  believer  in  the  principles  of 
his  party  he  felt  impelled  to  support  the  candidate  of  his 
own  political  organization.  Moreover,  the  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  National  Committee  was  Senator  Arthur 
P.  Gorman,  his  kinsman  and  business  and  political 
associate. 

Immediately  after  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Blaine,  and 
before  the  Democratic  National  Convention  met,  some 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  141 

question  was  raised  in  his  own  State  in  regard  to  his  at 
titude.  He  answered  the  question  in  a  brief  letter  to  the 
Wheeling  Register,  in  which  he  said  that,  while  Mr. 
Elaine  was  his  business  associate  and  warm  personal 
friend,  he  had  no  intention  of  supporting  him.  His  own 
comment  on  the  situation  is  given  in  his  journal  under  the 
same  entry,  in  which  he  recites  Cleveland's  election : 

In  the  contest  for  President  my  political  feeling  and  acts  were 
and  are  with  Cleveland;  my  personal  feeling  with  Elaine.  Mr. 
Elkins  (son-in-law)  and  Senator  Gorman  (cousin)  were  at  the 
head  of  the  committees  of  Democrats  and  Republicans,  so  my  re 
lation  to  each  is  good  and  close. 

When  the  President-elect  was  forming  his  Cabinet, 
some  suggestions  were  made  that  Mr.  Davis  should  be 
in  it.  He  commented  simply  in  his  journal  that  the 
newspapers  had  considerable  talk  about  himself  for  the 
Cabinet,  but  that  nothing  was  known  as  to  who  would 
go  into  it,  although  all  thought  that  Senator  Bayard  and 
W.  C.  Whitney  would  be  offered  places.  Belief  that  Mr. 
Davis  was  in  mind  was  strengthened  in  February,  when 
he  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Cleveland  in  New  York 
City,  but  apparently  that  was  not  the  purport  of  the  in 
terview.  It  is  thus  described : 

February  7,  1885.  Responding  to  telegraph  from  Senator 
Gorman,  I  went  to  New  York  last  evening  to  call  upon  President 
elect  Cleveland.  He  had  many  callers.  He  treated  me  very 
nicely ;  talked  to  me  half  an  hour. 

This  is  the  description  of  the  inauguration  of  the  first 
Democratic  President  since  Buchanan : 

March  4,  1885.  I  go  down  in  the  morning,  go  in  Senate,  wit 
ness  inaugural  address,  etc.,  of  Governor  Cleveland  as  President 
of  the  U.  S.  Day  is  good.  (Very  good.)  More  people  attend 
than  ever  attended  an  inaugural  address  before. 


142  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Mr.  Davis's  political  relations  with  President  Cleve 
land  throughout  his  first  administration  were  friendly, 
if  less  intimate  than  his  personal  relations.  One  brief 
entry  in  the  journal  indicates  that  he  did  not  think  that 
Mr.  Cleveland  and  himself  were  so  far  apart  on  the 
tariff.  It  follows: 

January  28,  1887.  I  was  in  Washington  yesterday;  had  by 
appointment  a  long  talk  with  President  Cleveland.  I  suggested 
special  message  to  Congress  urging  tariff  legislation  and  reduction 
of  revenue.  He  received  the  suggestion  kindly,  and  I  think  he 
will  act  upon  it. 

Mr.  Davis,  as  usual,  headed  the  West  Virginia  delega 
tion  to  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  St.  Louis 
in  June,  1888.  There  was  no  opposition  to  President 
Cleveland's  renomination,  and  his  old  friend  and  sena 
torial  associate,  Allan  G.  Thurman,  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President.  This  is  his  account  of  the  proceedings : 

June  3,  1888.  I  start  to  St.  Louis  in  special  car  of  Senator 
Gorman  to  attend  Democratic  Convention,  which  meets  on  5th. 
I  represent  W.  Va.  on  national  executive  committee.  Gorman, 
Watterson,  and  Scott  were  the  leading  men  of  the  Convention. 
I  was  with  them  most  of  the  time.  I  declined  reelection  on  Na 
tional  Executive  Committee.  Cleveland  and  Thurman  were  each 
unanimously  nominated.  This  is  very  unusual. 

In  this  year  the  question  as  to  who  should  be  the  Re 
publican  candidate  was  involved  in  much  uncertainty. 
,Mr.  Davis,  with  his  keen  powers  of  observation,  had 
reached  the  conclusion  that  the  nominee  would  be  Gen 
eral  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Indiana.  Months  before  the 
Convention  met,  in  correspondence  with  Mr.  Bayard, 
who  was  then  Ambassador  to  Great  Britain,  he  ex 
pressed  this  belief.  Mr.  Bayard,  three  thousand  miles 
away,  saw  no  such  probability,  and  so  wrote  Mr.  Davis, 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  143 

asking  him  the  grounds  for  his  belief;  and  Mr.  Davis 
responded  reviewing  the  political  conditions  and  the 
prospects.  His  prophecy  was  confirmed.  His  record  of 
the  event  is  thus  given : 

July  3,  1888.  General  Harrison  has  just  been  nominated  by 
the  Republicans  for  President.  Elkins  has  had  much  to  do  with 
nominating  him.  In  fact,  I  doubt  his  nomination  but  for  Elkins. 
He  is  our  personal  friend. 

There  was  a  movement  in  the  Democratic  party  to 
strengthen  the  ticket  in  West  Virginia  by  nominating 
Mr.  Davis  for  Governor.  This  movement,  however,  re 
ceived  no  encouragement  from  him,  and  he  finally  set 
it  at  rest  by  a  letter  to  the  Wheeling  Register  under  date 
of  August  ist,  as  follows: 

I  have  had  many  personal  requests  and  a  large  number  of  let 
ters  asking  me  to  allow  my  name  to  be  used  in  connection  with 
the  gubernatorial  nomination  at  the  approaching  State  Demo 
cratic  Convention  to  be  held  August  16. 

To  all  such  inquiries  my  general  reply  has  been  and  is  that 
my  business  affairs  are  in  such  condition  that  they  demand  all  of 
my  time  and  attention,  and,  without  neglecting  them  and  without 
great  personal  inconvenience  and  loss,  I  could  not  consent  to  be 
come  a  candidate. 

The  people  of  West  Virginia  have  been  kind  to  me,  and  I  owe 
them  a  debt  of  gratitude.  They  have  always  nominated  and 
elected  me  whenever  I  have  been  a  candidate.  I  would  like  to 
serve  them  in  any  way  I  consistently  can,  but  cannot  at  the  com 
ing  election  be  a  candidate  for  Governor. 

I  deem  it  fair  to  my  friends  and  party  associates  that  I  should 
make  this  public  expression,  so  that  they  may  be  advised  of  my 
decision  in  the  premises. 

It  is  known  that,  among  other  things,  I  am  engaged  with  others 
in  building  a  north-and-south  line  of  railroad  through  the  State, 
which  is  regarded,  in  a  measure,  as  a  public  advantage,  as  it  will 
largely  develop  the  resources  of  the  State  and  add  to  its  wealth 
and  prosperity.  It  is  feared  by  my  associates  and  myself  that 


144  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

my  candidacy  would  interfere  with  the  proper  care  and  prosecu 
tion  of  this  enterprise. 

I  hope  and  believe  that  the  Convention  will  select  and  elect  a 
worthy,  sound,  and  progressive  man,  identified  with  West  Vir 
ginia  and  its  development,  who  will  work  for  the  advancement 
of  the  people  and  the  progress  of  the  State. 

Notwithstanding  the  personal  friendship  to  which  Mr. 
Davis  referred  in  his  journal  entry  describing  General 
Harrison's  nomination,  he  entered  aggressively  into  the 
campaign  to  defeat  the  Republican  ticket.  The  guber 
natorial  question  having  been  disposed  of,  he  was  free 
to  give  his  energies  toward  the  reelection  of  President 
Cleveland,  and  this  he  did.  He  had  misgivings,  how 
ever,  that  the  tariff  issue  would  defeat  the  Democrats, 
and  these  were  confirmed  when  the  election  returns  were 
in.  He  thought  that  his  own  State  would  be  close,  but 
it  went  with  the  rest  of  the  country  and  its  electoral 
vote  was  recorded  for  the  Republican  candidates.  Mr. 
Davis  accepted  the  result  philosophically,  as  he  always 
did  political  reverses. 

The  friendship  which  General  Harrison  entertained 
for  him  was  in  no  way  affected  by  their  political  differ 
ences,  and  in  December,  by  invitation,  he  made  a  visit 
to  the  President-elect  at  Indianapolis.  The  newspapers 
were  filled  with  accounts  of  the  visit  and  speculation  as 
to  what  it  meant.  Mr.  Davis's  own  explanation  was 
given  in  his  journal : 

December  26,  1888.  On,  23d  I  left  Baltimore  for  short  visit 
to  General  Harrison  and  family.  Arrived  11.30  P.  M.  Mr.  Mc- 
Kee  met  me  at  the  depot.  Found  General  and  Mrs.  H.  waiting 
up  to  receive  me;  they  were  very  kind  and  good.  I  return  on 
Monday  evening.  They  asked  and  insisted  upon  my  staying  un 
til  Tuesday,  which  was  Christmas.  Newspapers  have  consider 
able  to  say  about  my  visit.  It  was  partly  social,  partly  in  inter 
ests  of  Mr.  Elkins  for  War  Department  and  Elaine  for  Secre- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  145 

tary  of  State.  The  Harrison  family  and  mine  have  been  good 
and  close  friends  for  8  or  10  years.  I  think  Mrs.  Harrison  one 
of  the  best  women  I  ever  knew. 

The  inauguration  of  General  Harrison,  with  comment 
on  the  weather,  was  almost  as  briefly  described  as  the 
similar  entry  and  comment  on  Mr.  Cleveland's  inaugura 
tion,  four  years  earlier.  It  ran  thus : 

March  4,  1889.  General  B.  Harrison,  Republican,  is  to-day 
inaugurated  as  President  U.  S.  He  is  a  good  and  valued  friend 
of  mine  and  our  family.  It  was  expected  he  would  make  Mr. 
Elkins  member  of  his  Cabinet,  but  he  did  not.  Messrs.  Elaine 
and  Windom  are  our  friends.  This  is  a  very  disagreeable  day; 
it  rained  nearly  all  last  night  and  this  morning.  Four  o'clock — 
not  raining,  but  cold  and  disagreeable. 

Though  President  Harrison  did  not  make  Mr.  Elkins 
a  member  of  his  Cabinet  at  the  beginning  of  his  ad 
ministration,  because  of  the  complications,  geographical 
and  political,  that  usually  beset  Cabinet-making,  he  did 
this  two  years  later.  Mr.  Elkins  then  became  Secretary 
of  War.  Mr.  Davis,  while  continuing  his  friendly  per 
sonal  relations  with  President  Harrison,  now  found  him 
self  in  stronger  political  opposition,  since  there  was  a 
national  administration  of  the  other  party  in  power  and 
to  be  held  responsible.  Yet  he  was  not  entirely  in  sym 
pathy  with  the  leading  elements  in  his  own  party.  He 
doubted  the  expediency  of  making  Mr.  Cleveland  the 
candidate  in  1892,  although  he  recognized  that  the  re 
action  over  the  extreme  high-tariff  legislation  embodied 
in  the  McKinley  bill  would  be  favorable  to  the  Demo 
crats.  He  believed  that  Senator  Gorman  would  be  the 
strongest  man  for  the  nomination  as  representing  the 
conservative  element  which  entertained  moderate  views 
on  the  tariff.  As  usual,  he  was  selected  as  one  of  the 


146  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

delegates  from  West  Virginia  to  the  Democratic  Na 
tional  Convention.  His  journal,  after  noting  the  nom 
ination  of  Harrison  and  Reid  by  the  Republican  Na 
tional  Convention,  has  this  entry : 

June  20,  1892.  I  am  at  Chicago  attending  Democratic  Con 
vention.  I  went  out  in  interest  of  Senator  Gorman.  It  was 
plain  from  time  of  our  arrival  that  ex-President  Cleveland  had 
a  majority  of  delegates.  I  returned  the  second  day  of  conven 
tion,  expecting  Cleveland  to  be  nominated  on  first  ballot,  which 
was  done. 

During  the  campaign  Mr.  Davis  made  a  number  of 
political  addresses  in  support  of  his  party  candidates, 
State,  Congressional,  and  national.  In  a  speech  at 
Piedmont  the  Saturday  evening  before  election  he  said 
that  the  Force  bill  was  the  leading  issue,  and,  while 
eulogizing  General  Harrison  as  a  man,  declared  that 
his  principles  were  wrong  and  he  was  to  be  blamed  for 
that  bill.  The  dangers  of  centralization,  if  the  Republi 
cans  were  continued  in  power,  was  another  issue  on 
which  he  urged  the  Democrats  to  support  their  candi 
dates.  On  the  tariff  he  declared  that  the  Republicans 
were  wrong  in  claiming  that  the  Democrats  were  in 
favor  of  taking  the  duty  off  coal,  and  that  the  Republi 
cans  were  responsible  for  the  legislation  reducing  the 
rate  on  that  product.  He  closed  this  address  by  intro 
ducing  William  L.  Wilson  and  urging  that  he  be  sup 
ported  for  Congress. 

The  disrupting  and  antagonistic  tendencies  in  the 
Democratic  party  during  President  Cleveland's  second 
term  were  not  pleasing  to  Mr.  Davis  with  his  conserva 
tism  and  his  constructive  ideas.  He  was  not  in  sym 
pathy  with  either  element  in  the  party  at  that  time,  and 
in  his  own  State  he  was  out  of  touch  with  those  who 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  147 

were  in  control  of  the  party  organization.  The  politi 
cal  condition  known  as  the  Bryan  campaign  was  ap 
proaching. 

Mr.  Davis  was  not  a  delegate  to  either  the  Democratic 
National  Convention  in  1896  or  that  in  1900,  but  he  kept 
his  party  allegiance  and  supported  the  national  ticket 
in  both  campaigns.  He  made  several  political  ad 
dresses  in  support  of  Bryan  and  Sewall  in  1896,  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Wheeling  Register  supporting  the 
platform  declaration  for  free  silver.  In  this  letter  he 
declared  that  he  did  not  fear  the  bad  results  that  the 
Republicans  claimed  would  follow  Mr.  Bryan's  elec 
tion.  Regarding  the  tariff  he  said  that,  in  his  judg 
ment,  the  interests  of  the  people  were  best  served  by  a 
moderate  revenue  tariff  with  incidental  protection.  He 
made  a  speech  at  Elkins  in  which  he  said  he  could  not 
agree  with  all  that  had  been  said  and  done  at  Chicago, 
but  he  urged  support  of  the  ticket. 

When  Mr.  Bryan  came  into  West  Virginia  on  his 
meteoric  speaking  trip,  a  meeting  was  held  at  Keyser 
at  which  Mr.  Davis  presided  and  made  a  speech  in 
dorsing  the  candidate  and  saying  that  his  youth  was  no 
objection  to  him.  He  also  said,  speaking  as  a  busi 
ness  man,  that  the  business  of  the  country  would  be  in 
no  danger  from  his  election.  Mr.  Bryan  in  his  speech, 
after  complimenting  Mr.  Davis,  referred  especially  to 
his  age  and  experience  and  his  standing  in  the  business 
world. 

"I  am  glad/'  said  Mr.  Bryan,  "this  man,  ex-Senator 
Davis,  living  in  the  East,  is  not  afraid  to  trust  the 
executive  office  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  has  always 
lived  in  the  West.  I  am  glad  that  this  man  of  mature 
years  is  not  afraid  of  those  who  have  not  reached  that 
age  in  life.  I  am  glad  that  one  of  the  richest  men  in 


148  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

your  State  is  not  afraid  to  trust  the  government  in  the 
hands  of  the  people.  His  position  protects  him  from  at 
tacks  which  are  made  against  me.  He  has  been  a  Sena 
tor  for  twelve  years ;  therefore  our  opponents  cannot  call 
him  an  ignoramus  or  a  novice  in  legislation.  His  prop 
erty  interests  protect  him  from  being  called  an  anar 
chist." 

A  passing  view  of  the  trend  of  the  campaign  is  given 
in  some  extracts  from  the  journal  which  follow: 

Sept.  28,  1896.  I  have  returned  from  trip  to  Baltimore,  Phil 
adelphia,  New  York,  and  Washington.  This  is  presidential  year. 
All  the  Eastern  States,  especially  money  centers,  are  for  Mc- 
Kinley  and  gold  standard.  Western  States  appear  to  be  all  for 
Bryan  and  double  standard,  gold  and  silver.  I  am  for  double 
standard  and  Bryan ;  I  have  written  a  letter  on  the  subject  to  the 
Wheeling  Register.  Candidate  Bryan  is  to  speak  at  Keyser  on 
3<Dth.  I  am  to  introduce  him,  also  preside. 

October  i,  1896.  Yesterday  Bryan,  Democratic  candidate  for 
President,  came  from  Washington  on  B  &  O,  spoke  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  Martinsburg,  Hancock,  Cumberland,  Keyser,  and  Graf- 
ton.  I  met  Mr.  Bryan  at  Cumberland.  I  was  chairman,  and 
introduced  Mr.  Bryan  to  the  great  crowd  of  people  (at  Keyser). 
Bryan  spoke  about  40  minutes.  Estimated  people  present  at 
4,500.  Rain  and  flood  keep  some  away. 

October  23,  1896.  The  political  pot  is  boiling  hot.  Political 
meetings  numerous.  Mr.  Elkins  is  giving  all  his  time  to  elec 
tioneering  and  speaking  for  McKinley.  I  am  for  Bryan;  have 
written  a  letter  supporting  Democratic  ticket.  Am  giving  finan 
cial  aid.  Many  invitations,  but  have  not  made  a  speech.  It 
looks  like  Republicans  will  succeed  in  New  York ;  betting  is 
about  3  to  I  on  McKinley.  West  Virginia  and  Maryland  are 
doubtful  States,  chances  in  favor  of  Republicans. 

Nov.  2,  1896.  To-morrow  is  election  day.  Democrats  claim 
West  Virginia  and  the  election  of  Bryan.  Republicans  claim  and 
feel  sure  of  West  Virginia  and  the  election  of  McKinley.  Bet 
ting  in  New  York  and  Chicago  is  about  three  to  one  in  favor  of 
McKinley.  Senator  Elkins  says  West  Virginia  and  the  coun- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  149 

try  for  McKinley.  I  say,  West  Virginia  and  result  doubtful. 
November  5.  Presidential  and  State  elections  over.  Repub 
licans  carry  nearly  all.  McKinley  about  300  electoral  votes ;  224 
to  elect.  Majority  on  popular  vote  large.  West  Va.  gives  Mc 
Kinley,  also  State  ticket,  about  12,000  majority ;  legislature  about 
two  thirds  Republican. 

In  the  mid-period  of  the  Congressional  and  State  elec 
tions  Mr.  Davis  still  continued  to  work  for  his  party's 
success.  In  February,  1898,  several  newspapers  began 
advocating  his  nomination  for  Governor,  but  he  dis 
couraged  the  movement.  In  August  he  presided  over 
the  Democratic  Convention,  which  met  at  Elkins,  and 
during  the  campaign  he  made  several  speeches.  In  the 
one  he  delivered  at  Piedmont  he  reviewed  the  general 
political  outlook  and  gave  some  attention  to  the  new 
question  which  had  arisen  as  a  consequence  of  the  war 
with  Spain  to  free  Cuba.  He  said  that  the  Republicans 
advocated  the  retention  of  all  the  conquered  territory, 
and  that  this  meant  a  colonial  system,  a  new  and  dan 
gerous  principle  in  our  government,  a  radical  depart 
ure  from  our  traditional  policy  altogether  inconsistent 
with  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  He  declared  himself  against 
the  retention  of  the  Philippines. 

In  this  campaign  Mr.  Davis  felt  a  close  personal  in 
terest,  because  his  brother,  Colonel  T.  B.  Davis,  had 
been  nominated  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  In  his  journal  he  recorded  his  gratifica 
tion  that  his  brother  overcame  a  Republican  majority 
of  290  and  was  elected  by  186  votes. 

The  Legislature  chosen  at  this  election  was  of  a 
mixed  political  character,  reflecting  the  factional  situa 
tion  in  both  of  the  leading  political  parties  in  West  Vir 
ginia.  It  was  a  question  as  to  which  party  would  suc 
ceed  in  choosing  the  United  States  Senator.  Mr.  Davis 


ISO  ,THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

always  had  been  able  to  secure  Republican  votes,  and 
many  of  his  friends  thought  that  he  would  be  the  best 
man  to  present  as  the  Democratic  candidate.  There 
were,  however,  ambitious  Democrats  who  were  close 
personal  friends  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  who  had  been  his 
political  lieutenants,  that  sought  the  nomination.  There 
was  also  the  fact  that  Mr.  Elkins,  his  son-in-law,  was 
a  Republican  United  States  Senator. 

In  his  journal  Mr.  Davis  records  in  November  that 
he  was  asked  by  many  to  be  a  candidate,  but  had  not 
said  yes  or  no.  A  fortnight  later  he  notes  that,  after 
a  talk  in  which  John  T.  McGraw  and  C.  W.  Dailey  said 
they  were  for  him,  he  told  them  he  would  not  be  a 
candidate.  Under  date  of  December  24,  1898,  he  writes 
in  the  journal: 

The  West  Virginia  senatorial  canvass  is  hot.  It  is  generally 
understood  that  I  am  not  a  candidate.  Also,  if  I  was  I  would 
receive  Democratic  vote. 

Ultimately  Nathan  B.  Scott,  Republican,  was  elected 
Senator. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1900  Mr.  Davis  again 
supported  Bryan.  He  acted  as  chairman  of  the  Demo 
cratic  State  Convention,  which  met  at  Parkersburg,  and 
made  a  speech  along  the  lines  of  opposition  to  imperial 
ism  and  the  Philippine  policy  of  the  Republicans.  His 
personal  interest  in  the  election  this  year  again  re 
lated  to  the  candidacy  of  his  brother,  Colonel  T.  B.  Davis, 
who  had  been  renominated,  and  who  was  elected.  In 
his  journal  entry,  under  date  of  November  5,  1900,  his 
views  on  the  national  outlook  were  recorded  to  the  ef 
fect  that  it  looked  to  him  as  if  McKinley  would  be 
elected  President.  The  outcome  he  summarized  in  this 
manner : 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  151 

November  7,  1900.  Elections,  national  and  State,  yesterday. 
Republicans  carried  nearly  everything  by  large  majority.  I  voted 
for  Bryan,  but  it  was  a  choice  of  evils.  Hope  this  is  the  end  of 
Bryanism. 

But  eight  years  later  Mr.  Davis  was  again  to  support 
Bryan  for  President. 


CHAPTER  X 

SOCIAL   LIFE  AT   DEER   PARK   AND   WASHINGTON 

Building  a  summer  home  in  the  Alleghany  wilderness — 
Glimpses  of  the  mountain  farm — Mr.  Davis's  love  of  country  life 
— Sowing  oats  and  buckwheat — Shearing  the  sheep — Evolution  of 
Deer  Park  into  the  summer  capital — Distinguished  visitors — 
Senatorial  guests — Cardinal  Gibbons — Ex-President  Grant — 
President  Cleveland's  honeymoon — Fishing  and  other  incidents 
— President  Harrison  and  his  family — Social  side  of  official  life 
in  Washington — White  House  dinners — New  Year's  receptions — 
Entertainments  for  Senator  Davis  at  the  end  of  his  term — Resi 
dence  in  Baltimore— First  state  dinner  of  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland. 

THE  intimate  family,  social,  political,  and  business 
life  of  Mr.  Davis  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  al 
ternated  between  Deer  Park  and  Washington. 
The  vast  tracts  of  timberlands  in  Garrett  County,  Mary 
land,  which  he  and  his  brother  purchased  at  the  close  of 
the  Civil  War,  were  traversed  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  but  it  was  unbroken  wilderness  that  was  thus 
crossed.  In  the  heart  of  these  forest  lands  he  deter 
mined  to  build  a  summer  home  on  the  crest  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  The  home  was  actually  an  extensive  farm 
for  which  the  greater  part  of  the  lands  had  to  be  cleared. 
The  wild  deer  had  roamed  through  the  region  and  when 
a  railway  station  was  established  it  was  fittingly  named 
Deer  Park.  The  beautiful  animals  for  many  years 
slaked  their  thirst  in  the  stream  that  ran  through  the 

Davis  grounds. 

152 


Colonel  Thomas  B.  Davis 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  153 

It  is  at  Deer  Park  that  the  best  evidences  are  afforded 
of  Mr.  Davis's  love  for  the  open  and  of  his  fondness  for 
farm  life.  It  is  here,  too,  that  he  appears  as  a  practical 
farmer  as  well  as  a  pioneer  lumberman  and  railway 
builder.  He  opened  the  homestead  in  the  spring  of 
1867,  and  continued  to  live  there  during  the  summer 
months  until  1892,  when  he  removed  to  Elkins. 

The  entries  in  his  journal  during  the  earlier  part  of 
this  period  offer  many  pleasing  pictures  of  the  practical 
farmer  in  the  midst  of  congenial  surroundings,  fre 
quently  noting  the  weather  conditions  and  prospects,  as 
every  farmer  must  do,  plowing,  sowing,  and  harvesting 
different  crops,  opening  new  lands,  experimenting  with 
new  varieties  of  grains,  looking  after  the  various  farm 
animals,  and  not  forgetting  the  farm  garden. 

Incidental  to  these  farming  operations  are  the  de 
velopment  of  the  lumber  business,  installing  new  saw 
mills,  laying  tramways,  and  marketing  the  product. 
There  are  also  numerous  prospecting  trips  into  adjoin 
ing  forest  regions,  with  shrewd  comment  on  their  na 
ture,  and  often  details  of  purchases  and  sales.  The 
picture  of  farm  life  is  a  minute  one,  with  few  of  the 
details  left  out.  Excerpts  from  some  of  the  journal 
entries  give  the  outlines : 

April  26,  1867.     Moved  to  Deer  Park. 

April  29.     Sowed  a  few  oats  on  hill  in  front  of  house. 

May  4.     Weather  so  wet  we  cannot  sow  oats. 

May  8.  Ground  white  with  snow.  We  have  sowed  about 
twenty  bushels  of  oats. 

Our  mill,  Greenwood,  was  commenced  last  week  in  March. 
About  April  15,  sawed  some  little  lumber.  May  1st  just  begin 
ning  to  work  right. 

May  13.  There  have  been  3  or  4  close  days.  We  are  sowing 
oats  in  the  glade  in  front  of  house.  Brother  Thomas  is  here. 

May  17.     Received  cow  and  calf  from  Mr.  Thompson.     We 


154  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

finished  sowing  oats  to-day.  The  carpenters  are  about  done  on 
our  house. 

May  20.     We  have  planted  nearly  all  our  garden. 

May  30.  We  counted  our  sheep,  and  marked  them.  All 
marked  "H  D."  Wethers  have  an  additional  H  on  shoulder. 
Young  lambs  have  D  on  shoulder.  We  have  134  total  sheep. 
Our  mark  is  crop  of  left  ear  and  undercut  on  right.  We  will 
turn  our  sheep  out  to-morrow. 

June  17.  Bought  of  E.  Bell  200.80  acres  of  land  on  hill  join 
ing  Lawson  tract  at  $20,  all  timber-land. 

June  21.     Sowed  buckwheat  in  the  meadow  on  Black  Run. 

June  25.     Sowed  buckwheat  on  hill. 

August  31.  Considerable  frost  last  night;  fear  our  buckwheat 
has  been  killed. 

September  i.  Frost  killed  buckwheat  here,  but  not  on  high 
ground. 

October  25.  Examined  trees  bought  and  planted  last  spring; 
found  dead  two  apple  trees,  eight  dwarf  pears,  two  plums,  one 
cherry,  one  quince.  This  is  as  near  as  I  can  tell;  may  not  be 
quite  correct. 

November  2.     We  send  cattle  and  colts  to  New  Creek  to  winter. 

November  18.  Mrs.  Davis  closed  our  house  for  the  season. 
We  are  still  plowing. 

December  2.  Weather  cold ;  snow  in  the  glades,  and  we  have 
to  stop  plowing. 

The  first  season  on  the  new  homestead  was  thus  closed, 
but  during  the  winter  various  purchases  of  implements 
were  recorded  with  a  view  to  the  following  season,  and 
early  in  the  next  spring  the  family  returned  to  the  farm. 
Its  cultivation  continued  to  receive  the  personal  atten 
tion  of  Mr.  Davis,  notwithstanding  his  absorption  in 
larger  business  enterprises.  Some  of  the  incidents  of 
the  season  are  thus  set  forth: 

April  1 8,  1868.  Weather  good.  We  sow  oats,  also  commence 
plowing  on  glade  hill. 

April  25.     Weather  has  been  cold  but  good  since  2oth.     We, 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  155 

this  morning,  commenced  sowing  oats.  Sowed  black  oats  in 
front  of  Mr.  Tillson's,  and  opposite,  on  other  side  of  Zock.  We 
also  sow  blue  grass  and  timothy  on  some  ground. 

April  27.  Weather  good;  we  are  still  sowing  oats.  T.  B. 
Davis  sent  20  cattle,  12  mules,  making  32. 

May  12.  Still  sowing  oats  and  plowing.  Weather  cool,  and 
looks  like  rain.  We  planted  or  sowed  China  wheat  to-day;  it  is 
something  new. 

May  15.  Cloudy  and  raining.  John  Rhine  brought  up  two 
mares  and  colts ;  24  calves. 

May  23.  Have  been  plowing  and  sowing  oats  for  two  days. 
I  was  stopped  this  evening  by  rain.  One  day  more  will  let  us 
finish. 

May  26.     Fine  day ;  we  are  sowing  oats. 

May  27.  Close,  warm  rain;  hard  in  the  evening.  Sheared 
and  counted  sheep  to-day — 47  ewes,  4  wethers,  2  rams,  13  ewe 
lambs. 

June  16.     No  rain  since  last  of  May,  three  weeks. 

June  18.  Sowed  some  buckwheat  in  the  wet  places  in  glade. 
New  sawmill  about  ready  to  saw. 

August  2.     We  commence  cutting  oats. 

August  13.  Some  frost  last  night;  bit  slightly  buckwheat  in 
the  glade. 

November  20.     Quite  a  snow-storm. 

December  2.  About  two  inches  of  snow  on  the  ground ;  we 
stop  plowing.  We  leave  Deer  Park  for  the  winter. 

Subsequent  seasons  widened  the  farm  work,  but  al 
ways  it  had  the  direct  oversight  of  Mr.  Davis.  In  the 
midst  of  political  conferences,  service  in  the  State  Leg 
islature  and  the  United  States  Senate,  railway  building, 
purchases  of  coal  and  timber  lands  involving  millions  of 
dollars,  he  continued  to  give  his  attention  to  the  farm. 
His  journal  records  that  on  May  5,  1870,  the  weather 
was  good,  that  they  finished  sowing  oats,  and  that  "the 
last  sowed  was  Poland  oats,  near  the  barn."  Early  in 
August,  1875,  ne  notes  that  the  army  worm  had  made 
its  appearance  in  oats  and  corn,  doing  great  damage.  A 


156  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

week  later  he  records  that  they  commenced  cutting  oats, 
though  quite  green,  to  prevent  the  army  worm  from 
eating  them  up.  The  loss  to  the  farmer  is  thus  indi 
cated  : 

We  will  make  but  little  more  than  our  seed,  owing  to  army 
worm. 

How  greatly  the  Deer  Park  farm  had  expanded  and 
become  something  more  than  a  farm  is  indicated  in  an 
entry  under  date  of  May  12,  1878: 

On  yesterday  Professor  Baird  sent  to  Deer  Park  a  fine  lot  of 
young  salmon  trout.  We  put  11,000  salmon  in  ice  pond  near 
house,  2,000  trout  in  pond  near  barn,  1,000  in  little  pond,  1,000 
trout  in  Pond  Big  Run. 

Other  consignments  of  salmon  and  trout  from  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  are  also  noted  at  later  dates. 

Some  of  the  incidents  of  farming  in  the  later  years  are 
thus  described: 

September  I,  1879.  This  is  a  fine  morning.  We  are  done 
stacking  oats.  Are  now  cutting  second  grass  crop,  which  is 
good;  first  crop  was  bad  or  short. 

September  I,  1881.  This  has  been  a  dry  summer,  but  our 
oats,  buckwheat,  and  hay  crops  are  good.  We  are  raising  about 
6,000  bushels,  weighing  34  Ibs.  to  the  bushel,  300  bushels  of  buck 
wheat,  300  tons  of  hay. 

July  12,  1882.  We  are  cutting  grass ;  it  is  only  tolerable  good. 
Grass  near  house  is  very  good,  but  north  or  west  hills  are  bad 
or  short. 

Mingled  with  the  notes  on  the  crops  and  other  inci 
dents  of  farming,  after  the  first  few  seasons,  there  are 
increasingly  frequent  entries  regarding  social  affairs, 
in  which  the  names  of  distinguished  men  of  the  nation 
are  given  as  visitors.  These  entries  mark  the  trans 
formation  of  the  Alleghany  summit  from  a  wilderness 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  157 

into  one  of  the  great  mountain  resorts  of  the  county. 
This  transformation  really  was  largely  the  evolution  of 
the  Davis  farm  and  timber  tracts,  for  it  was  Mr.  Davis 
who  saw  its  advantages  and  who  planned  and  carried 
forward  its  development.  At  his  instance,  John  W. 
Garrett,  who  was  then  president  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  examined  the  region  and  was  so  im 
pressed  with  its  attractiveness  that  he  built  a  summer 
home  for  himself  there,  while  his  son,  T.  Harrison  Gar 
rett,  built  another.  He  went  further  than  this,  and  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Davis  erected  a  large  summer  ho 
tel  and  numerous  cottages  to  provide  for  the  summer 
guests  who  began  coming  to  Deer  Park. 

All  through  these  years  the  kindly  and  unostentatious 
hospitality  of  Mr.  Davis  and  his  family  had  been  ex 
tended  to  their  friends  both  in  public  and  in  private 
life.  In  a  short  time  Deer  Park  had  become  the  summer 
capital  of  the  nation.  Railway  officials  found  it  con 
venient  to  spend  the  heated  months  there.  To  Baltimore 
and  Washington  especially  it  was  a  haven  of  rest,  easily 
accessible  and  therefore  sought. 

It  was  there  that  the  messenger  from  the  Vatican, 
Count  Mucciola,  brought  the  notification  from  Pope  Leo 
XIII  which  raised  His  Grace,  Archbishop  Gibbons,  to 
His  Eminence,  James,  Cardinal  Gibbons,  the  second 
American  Cardinal.  Thither  came  the  leaders  of  both 
parties  in  Congress,  escaping  the  heat  of  Washington 
for  brief  periods,  most  of  them  as  guests  of  Senator 
Davis  and  his  family.  Rarely  did  a  week-end  pass 
without  the  Senator  bringing  a  number  of  his  colleagues. 
There,  too,  came  Presidents  of  the  United  States  for 
rest  and  recreation  and  former  Presidents  as  well. 

Some  of  the  incidents  of  these  visits  of  distinguished 
men  are  given  as  recorded  in  the  journal: 


158  ,THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

July  10,  1875.  Judge  and  Mrs.  Thurman  of  Ohio  arrive 
They  expect  to  spend  two  weeks  with  us. 

July  ii.  General  Bristow,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Judge 
Pierpont,  Attorney-General,  and  Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio 
took  tea  with  us  to  meet  Judge  and  Mrs.  Thurman. 

June  6,  1881.  Mr.  W.  W.  Corcoran  [the  philanthropist]  and 
Carter  Robbins  are  here  on  first  visit  of  a  few  days.  We  are 
glad  to  have  our  friend  Corcoran  with  us. 

June  25.  Hon.  Wm.  Windom  and  wife  made  us  a  visit  from 
Saturday  to  Monday.  They  are  close  friends  of  ours. 

June  27.  Hon.  A.  P.  Gorman,  Senator  of  Maryland  and  my 
first  cousin,  made  us  a  visit. 

September  3,  1883.  Senator  T.  F.  Bayard  and  two  daugh 
ters  have  been  on  a  visit  to  us  for  nearly  a  week.  They  left 
yesterday  for  home.  During  their  stay  here  several  entertain 
ments  were  given  them.  One  at  Mr.  T.  Harrison  Garrett's  was 
a  nice  affair. 

Ex-Senator  McDonald  (of  Indiana)  and  wife  have  been  at 
the  hotel  for  some  time.  Bayard  and  McDonald  met  and  talked 
several  times  at  our  house.  Rode  and  drove  together.  Both 
are  prominent  candidates  for  Democratic  nomination  for  Presi 
dent  next  year. 

September  8.  Mr.  Bayard  wrote  me  a  very  friendly  and  kind 
letter,  telling  what  a  pleasant  visit  he  had  with  us. 

August  n,  1884.  Senator  Pendleton  of  Ohio  left  us  yester 
day.  He  paid  us  a  visit  of  a  few  days.  We  like  him  very  much. 

September  15.  Ex-Senator  Barnum  (of  Connecticut)  made 
us  a  short  visit  Sunday  last. 

Senator  John  Sherman  was  another  visitor,  usually 
one  of  the  guests  on  a  week-end  trip  from  Washington, 
while  General  U.  S.  Grant  and  Mrs.  Grant  came  as  the 
guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elkins  in  the  midsummer  of 
1883  and  remained  for  several  days. 

A  Presidential  honeymoon  was  one  of  the  incidents 
resulting  from  Deer  Park's  attractiveness  and  the  rep 
utation  for  hospitality  that  its  leading  resident  had  given 
it  The  story  of  the  honeymoon,  which  at  the  time 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  159 

filled  columns  of  the  newspapers,  is  given  with  idyllic 
brevity  by  Senator  Davis  in  his  journal  entries: 

May  22,  1886.  President  Cleveland  sent  for  me  through 
Colonel  Lamont,  his  private  secretary ;  told  me  he  is  to  be  mar 
ried  early  in  June,  and  asked  me  to  arrange  so  he  can  go  to  Deer 
Park  with  bride  and  spend  a  week.  The  marriage  and  place 
they  go  is  known  to  but  very  few;  newspapers  have  not  yet  got 
hold  of  it. 

June  2.  I  came  to  Baltimore  last  evening.  Stopped  at  Wash 
ington  and  saw  Secretary  Lamont  and  President  Cleveland. 
Presdt.  marries  Miss  Folsom  this  evening,  and  goes  to  Deer  Park 
to-night  to  spend  a  week  or  two. 

June  8.  President  Cleveland  and  bride,  Miss  Folsom  that  was, 
came  here  last  Thursday  morning,  the  3d.  They  occupied  one  of 
the  B  &  O  Railroad  cottages.  Weather  has  been  fine.  Mrs. 
Davis  and  I  call.  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  return  our  visit. 
About  three  o'clock  Mrs.  Davis  and  I  go  over  to  President's  cot 
tage  and  take  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  a  drive  to  Oakland. 
At  night  we  call  to  see  the  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland. 

Saturday,  June  5.  President  and  Mrs.  C.  went  to  Bantz  at 
Deep  Creek  to  fish ;  we  caught  a  fair  lot  of  trout.  Sunday  Pres 
ident  and  Mrs.  C.,  Colonel  Lamont,  and  Mrs.  L.,  Mrs.  Davis  and 
I  went  to  Oakland  to  church.  Sunday  evening  President  and 
Mrs.  C.,  Colonel  Lamont,  and  Mrs.  L.  dine  with  us  at  seven 
o'clock.  Monday  President  and  Colonel  Lamont  took  my  moun 
tain  wagon  and  horses  and  went  to  Leeland's  place  on  Deep 
Creek ;  got  about  50  trout. 

There  were  other  fishing  trips,  and  the  family  legend 
is  that  young  John  Davis,  who  was  often  one  of  the 
party,  usually  saw  part  of  his  catch  transferred  to  the 
President's  basket  without  Mr.  Cleveland's  knowledge. 

In  the  newspaper  accounts  of  the  honeymoon,  it  was 
told  how  President  Cleveland  and  his  wife  in  the  early 
morning  were  seen  wending  their  way  up  to  the  sawdust 
walk  leading  to  the  Davis  cottage,  throwing  aside  all 
ceremony  and  instead  of  waiting  for  the  first  call  paying 


i6o  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  visit  themselves,  thus  relieving  the  ex-Senator  of  any 
embarrassment  that  he  might  have  felt  in  the  matter  of 
calling  on  the  newly  married  couple.  There  was  also 
an  undercurrent  of  political  talk  at  the  time,  growing 
out  of  the  resignation  of  Daniel  Manning  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  the  possibility  that  President  Cleve 
land  might  ask  ex-Senator  Davis  to  take  the  vacant 
place.  The  end  of  the  visit  was  told  in  the  journal  entry 
of  June  8  in  this  manner : 

President  and  Mrs.  C,  Colonel  Lamont,  Mrs.  Davis,  Kate  and 
I  drive  to  Boiling  Spring.  At  one  o'clock  President  and  party 
left  on  special  train  for  Washington.  President  said  he  had  a 
very  pleasant  visit  and  might  return  during  the  summer. 

The  forerunner  of  another  Presidential  guest  at  Deer 
Park  is  found  in  several  notes  of  visits  by  Senator  Ben 
jamin  Harrison.  The  friendship  between  the  Davis  and 
the  Harrison  families  was  an  intimate  one  and  was  the 
more  cherished  because  of  the  difference  in  politics  of 
the  heads  of  the  two  families.  In  August,  1887,  Mr. 
Davis  recorded  in  his  journal: 

General  and  Mrs.  Harrison  of  Indiana  are  staying  with  us. 
Have  been  here  a  week  or  more,  and  will  remain  a  week  longer. 
Mrs.  Davis  and  I  gave  them  a  dinner. 

There  were  subsequent  visits,  and  after  General  Har 
rison  became  President  he  found  relief  from  official  cares 
in  going  to  Deer  Park,  although  at  the  time  he  humor 
ously  explained  that,  while  the  office-seekers  did  not  in 
trude  on  him  there,  nevertheless  an  unusually  large 
number  of  people  seemed  to  happen  in  at  Deer  Park  in 
order  to  pay  their  respects.  The  incidents  of  President 
Harrison's  visit  the  first  summer  following  his  inaugura 
tion  are  recorded  in  this  pleasing  manner : 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  161 

July  3,  1889.  Mrs.  McKee,  daughter  of  Presdt.  Harrison,  has 
been  with  us  several  days,  arranging  and  fixing  up  cottage  for 
President  and  Mrs.  Harrison.  Mrs.  Harrison  and  party  came 
to  Deer  Park  to-day  and  went  direct  to  their  cottage.  We  give 
Mrs.  H.  an  Alderney  cow  and  Mrs.  McKee  an  Alderney  calf. 

July  12.  President  Harrison  came  from  Washington  to-day 
and  joined  Mrs.  Harrison  and  Mrs.  McKee.  Secretary  and  Mrs. 
Windom  and  daughter  also  came,  and  are  our  guests. 

July  26.  Attorney-General  Miller  came  on  24th  to  make  us  a 
visit  of  several  days. 

July  29.  Attorney-General  Miller  left  for  Washington  to-day. 
He  made  himself  very  agreeable. 

President  and  Mrs.  Harrison  have  been  quite  friendly,  coming 
to  our  house  often,  and  we  are  going  to  their  cottage,  sometimes 
to  meals. 

August  31.  At  seven- thirty  we  expect  the  President  and  Mrs. 
Harrison  to  dinner  with  us.  Have  invited  fourteen  or  sixteen 
persons. 

Among  the  guests  at  this  dinner  were  various  public 
men  and  their  wives  and  several  railway  officials  of 
national  reputation. 

At  this  period  Cardinal  Gibbons  was  in  the  habit  of 
seeking  rest  at  Deer  Park,  and  was  an  occasional  guest 
of  the  Davis  family.  He  met  President  Harrison  at 
an  informal  dinner  given  by  Mr.  Davis.  The  delicate 
question  of  etiquette  was  solved  by  seating  the  Cardinal 
on  the  left  of  the  host  with  the  President  on  the  right. 

The  Davis  hospitality  at  Deer  Park  during  these 
years  was  a  reflex  of  the  hospitality  extended  at  Wash 
ington.  Some  passing  glimpses  of  official  functions  at 
the  national  capital  are  given  in  the  journal  entries. 
Among  these  functions  during  the  first  part  of  the  Sena 
torial  career  was  a  state  dinner  by  President  Grant  at 
the  White  House  which  Senator  Davis  had  not  expected 
to  attend,  Mrs.  Davis  being  ill  at  the  time,  and  the  in 
vitation  to  dine  with  the  President  being  nevertheless 


162  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  command,  the  Senator  found  it  necessary  to  make  a 
personal  call  on  President  Grant  and  explain  the  cir 
cumstances.  A  state  dinner  at  the  White  House  dur 
ing  the  term  of  President  Hayes,  in  February,  1879,  *s 
described  in  this  way: 

Mrs.  Davis  and  I  dined  with  President  and  Mrs.  Hayes  at 
seven;  it  was  a  state  dinner.  We,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  got 
through  and  went  to  British  Minister's,  Sir  Edward  Thornton, 
to  a  reception. 

At  that  period  the  social  side  of  official  life  was  some 
what  restricted,  owing  to  the  lack  of  facilities  for  en 
tertainment.  Representatives  and  Senators  in  Con 
gress,  Cabinet  officers,  and  other  officials  lived  mostly 
in  boarding-houses  or  hotels.  A  few  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  rented  their  homes,  but  for  a  member  of 
Congress  to  own  a  house  in  Washington  was  to  risk  his 
political  future,  -because  the  folks  at  home  would  not 
understand. 

During  a  large  part  of  his  senatorial  term  Senator 
Davis  and  his  family  lived  at  the  Arlington  Hotel. 
Many  of  the  leading  public  men  also  made  their  homes 
there,  while  distinguished  strangers,  such  as  the  Em 
peror  Dom  Pedro  and  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis,  were 
entertained  at  the  Arlington  during  their  visit.  The 
family  thus  was  in  the  very  center  of  official  life. 

At  that  time  the  New  Year's  reception  at  the  White 
House  was  the  function  of  a  public  character  which  in 
augurated  the  social  season,  and  the  making  of  New 
Year's  calls  was  as  much  a  part  of  Congressional  life 
as  attending  the  sessions  of  the  House  and  Senate.  A 
New  Year's  day  toward  the  close  of  the  senatorial  career 
is  thus  described : 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  163 

January  i,  1881.  This  has  been  an  unusually  cold,  stormy 
winter,  with  much  snow;  it  is  said  to  be  the  coldest  winter  for 
years. 

Mrs.  Davis,  Hallie,  and  others  received  callers  at  Arlington 
parlor;  more  than  100  callers  came.  I  make  about  twenty  calls, 
among  them  Secretary  Schurz,  Sherman,  and  Ramsey.  Also 
General  Sherman,  Senators  Pendleton,  Kernan,  Windom,  Allison, 
Bayard,  Edmunds,  and  Beck. 

Senator  Davis,  besides  the  entertainments  given  by 
himself  and  Mrs.  Davis,  was  a  frequent  giver  of  din 
ners  for  gentlemen.  One  of  these  at  Wormley's,  which 
was  then  famous  for  its  colored  owner  and  for  its  good 
cheer,  included  Mr.  Elaine,  a  large  number  of  his  col 
leagues  in  the  Senate,  and  some  prominent  railroad  of 
ficials. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  second  term,  when  it  was 
definitely  determined  that  he  was  retiring  from  public 
life,  a  series  of  dinners  were  given  in  honor  of  the  Sen 
ator  and  Mrs.  Davis  by  his  colleagues.  One  was  by 
Senator  Gorman,  one  by  Senator  Bayard,  and  another 
by  Mr.  Elaine.  A  few  lines  in  the  journal  tell  the  story 
of  the  Elaine  dinner,  though  it  was  a  very  notable  one : 

February  24,  1883.  Ex-Secretary  Blaine  at  his  new  house 
gave  Mrs.  Davis  and  me  a  dinner;  commence  at  seven  and  one 
half;  return  home  eleven  o'clock.  Left  dinner  table  about  ten. 
Guests,  Senator  and  Mrs.  Allison,  Senator  and  Mrs.  Windom, 
Senator  and  Mrs.  Gorman,  Justice  and  Mrs.  Miller,  Senator 
Bayard,  Senator  Camden,  and  General  Sherman. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  Senate,  Mr.  Davis,  on 
account  of  his  business  interests,  for  a  time  made  his 
winter  home  in  Baltimore.  He  entertained  there  with 
his  customary  hospitality  and  his  former  colleagues  were 
frequent  guests  at  his  table.  The  friendship  with  Mr. 


1 64  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Elaine  was  cemented  by  several  visits.     One  of  these  is 
thus  described: 

March  13,  1884.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  G.  Elaine  came  over  from 
Washington  to  dine  with  us.  There  were  present  Mrs.  Benjamin 
Harrison,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Gary,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Hamble- 
ton,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Spencer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elkins,  Gen 
eral  Felix  Agnus,  and  our  daughter  Kate;  fifteen  in  all. 

After  a  few  years  Washington  again  became  the  win 
ter  home  and  the  social  life  at  the  national  capital  was 
resumed.  It  was  during  this  period  of  residence  in 
Washington  that  the  sequel  of  President  Cleveland's 
honeymoon  occurred  in  the  form  of  the  first  state  din 
ner.  The  story  of  this  social  event  is  given  in  full  in  a 
newspaper  excerpt  pasted  in  the  journal,  with  this  com 
ment  under  date  of  January  21,  1887:  "Mrs.  Davis 
and  I  attended  dinner  given  by  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland.  It  was  a  grand  affair.  See  preceding- 
page." 

The  newspaper  account  runs : 

At  seven-thirty  o'clock  to-night  the  guests  assembled  for  the 
first  White  House  state  dinner  this  winter,  which  was  also  the  first 
at  which  its  young  mistress  has  presided.  It  was  given  for  the 
Cabinet,  and  was  noteworthy  as  the  first  appearance  of  Mrs. 
Lamar,  bride  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  .  .  .  The  bride  of 
the  White  House  wore  for  the  first  time  one  of  the  most  elab 
orate  dresses  of  her  trousseau,  a  pale  blue  silk  starred  with  silver 
daisies  and  veiled  in  clouds  of  tulle. 

The  order  of  escort  to  the  table  was  as  follows:  The  Presi 
dent  and  Mrs.  Manning,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  Mrs. 
Lamar,  Lieutenant-General  Sheridan  and  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
Ex-Senator  H.  G.  Davis  and  Mrs.  August  Belmont,  Commodore 
Harmony  and  Mrs.  Goodyear  of  Buffalo,  Governor  Lee  of  Vir 
ginia  and  Mrs.  Andrew  of  Massachusetts,  the  President  of  the 
Senate  and  Mrs.  Sheridan,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and 
Mrs.  Endicott,  the  former  being  Mrs.  Cleveland's  left-hand  neigh- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  165 

bor,  while  at  her  right  sat  her  escort,  the  Secretary  of  State. 
Beyond  these,  still  at  Mrs.  Cleveland's  right,  were  the  Postmaster- 
General  and  Mrs.  John  Sherman,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  and 
Mrs.  Harmony,  Assistant  Secretary  Fairchild  and  Mrs.  Davis  of 
West  Virginia,  Senator  Beck  and  Mrs.  Sicard  of  Buffalo,  Mr. 
John  A.  Andrew  and  Mrs.  Fairchild,  the  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior  and  Mrs.  Carlisle,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Mrs.  Vilas, 
who  was  the  President's  left-hand  mate. 

Further  chapters  in  the  social  life  in  Washington  in 
which  Mr.  Davis  participated  might  be  written,  but  it 
is  well  to  end  the  chronicle  with  the  golden  memories  of 
those  gracious  days  of  President  Cleveland  and  his 
bride  in  the  White  House. 


CHAPTER  XI 

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL    NOMINATION    AND   AFTER 

State  of  the  Democratic  party  in  1904 — Revival  of  conservative 
forces — Mr.  Davis  a  delegate  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention — Cleve 
land  elements  in  control — Mr.  Bryan's  fight  in  the  Platform  Com 
mittee  for  silver — Compromise  by  omission — Judge  Parker's 
nomination  for  President — Mr.  Davis's  story  of  his  own  nomina 
tion  for  Vice-President — Welcome  by  his  neighbors  at  Elkins — 
Turn  given  the  campaign  by  Judge  Parker's  gold  telegram — Ob 
jections  to  Mr.  Davis  on  the  score  of  age — Notification  at  White 
Sulphur  Springs — Speech  by  John  Sharp  Williams — Response — 
Campaigning  at  eighty-one — Philosophic  acceptance  of  result — 
Activities  during  the  four  years  that  followed — Urged  by  his 
party  in  West  Virginia  for  various  offices — Reasons  for  declining 
— Delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Convention  in  1912 — Support  of 
Wilson  and  Marshall 

AFTER  two  national  campaigns  in  which  it  had 
met  defeat,  the  state  of  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  nation  in   1904  was  not  encouraging. 
The  inevitable  reaction  had  occurred.     Free  silver,  un 
der  Mr.  Bryan,  had  not  won  in  1896.     The  same  general 
attitude,  together  with  opposition  to  imperialism,  had 
not  brought  victory  in  1900.     The  radical  forces  in  the 
party  having  been  in  control  and  having  failed,  the  con 
servative  forces  were  now  becoming  influential. 

It  was  apparent  that  Mr.  Bryan  was  about  to  be 
displaced  from  his  leadership.  This  was  to  be  done  un 
der  the  element  in  the  party  which  was  known  as  the 
Cleveland  Democracy,  although  it  included  many  prom 
inent  party  leaders  who  never  had  been  Cleveland  Dem- 

166 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  167 

ocrats.  All  these  forces  were  united  in  their  determina 
tion  to  free  the  organization  from  the  silver  issue.  They 
believed  that  this  question  had  been  settled  for  good 
and  therefore  should  be  eliminated  if  the  party  was  to 
have  any  chance  of  success.  The  desire  to  get  back 
into  power  was  also  a  strong  motive  for  burying  the 
dead  issue  by  many  who  originally  had  believed  in  it. 

In  West  Virginia,  as  in  other  sections  of  the  country, 
the  conservative  forces  in  the  Democratic  party  began 
to  assert  themselves,  and  thus  in  a  natural  way  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  Davis  was  again  sought.  Having 
supported  free  silver  and  Mr.  Bryan  in  both  campaigns, 
he  was  not  unacceptable  to  the  following  of  Mr.  Bryan 
in  the  State,  although  he  was  opposed  to  what  were 
called  the  Bryan  tendencies.  The  prevailing  sentiment 
found  expression  in  the  first  instance  in  suggestions  that 
he  accept  the  nomination  for  Governor.  Various  en 
tries  in  his  journal  refer  to  this  sentiment.  In  one  case 
he  remarks  that  he  is  being  urged  to  be  a  candidate,  but 
says  to  all  that  he  is  not  a  candidate  and  not  hunting  for 
a  job.  Again  he  says  he  is  being  urged  to  accept  the 
nomination  for  Governor,  but  has  not  agreed  to  do  so. 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  met  at  Charleston 
in  April,  1904,  to  select  the  candidates  for  Governor  and 
other  State  officers,  and  to  choose  delegates  to  the  Na 
tional  Convention  at  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Davis  was  a  po 
tent  figure  at  this  convention.  In  his  speech  he  said: 

"An  important  part  of  our  duty  is  to  select  conserva 
tive,  representative  Democrats  as  delegates  to  the  Na 
tional  Convention  at  St.  Louis.  Let  us  name  good  men 
without  reference  to  past  differences  of  opinion.  In  the 
coming  election  we  are  likely  to  have  a  strong,  popular, 
and  conservative  candidate  in  the  person  of  Gorman  or 
Parker.7' 


168  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Mr.  Davis  had  been  exerting  his  influence  to  secure 
delegates  favorable  to  Senator  Gorman,  and  this  was 
made  apparent  when  the  delegates-at-large  and  the  dis 
trict  delegates  were  chosen,  twelve  of  the  delegation  be 
ing  for  Gorman  and  two  for  William  R.  Hearst.  Mr. 
Davis  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  delegation.  The 
other  delegates-at-large  were  former  Senator  Johnson 
N.  Camden,  former  Governor  William  A.  MacCorkle 
and  the  Hon.  Owen  S.  McKinney. 

When  the  National  Convention  met  at  St.  Louis  early 
in  July,  the  nominee  virtually  had  been  selected  in  the 
person  of  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker  of  the  New  York  Court 
of  Appeals.  A  careful  literary  campaign  had  been  con 
ducted  for  months  with  the  purpose  of  making  him 
known  to  the  public  at  large.  Antagonistic  leaders  sup 
ported  him.  Former  President  Cleveland  had  indorsed 
him  in  newspaper  interviews  and  former  Governor 
David  B.  Hill  was  in  personal  charge  of  his  campaign. 
The  vital  struggle  in  the  Convention,  therefore,  was  not 
to  be  over  the  candidate,  but  over  the  platform. 

It  was  known  that  the  supporters  of  Judge  Parker 
were  likely  to  have  their  way ;  yet  many  of  the  delegates 
were  not  quite  ready  to  ignore  their  past  record  on  sil 
ver,  or  to  accept  the  complete  domination  of  the  con 
servative  element  in  the  party,  since  this  element  drew 
its  main  support  from  the  East  and  therefore  raised  the 
sectional  question. 

William  J.  Bryan  appeared  as  a  delegate  from  Ne 
braska.  The  conditions  were  strikingly  different  from 
those  that  obtained  at  Chicago  in  1896  when  he  had 
ridden  the  whirlwind  and  dominated  the  Convention. 
They  were  also  strikingly  different  from  those  that  were 
to  obtain  eight  years  later,  when  he  was  again  to  ride 
the  whirlwind,  dominate  another  National  Convention, 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  169 

overthrow  the  candidate  who  had  an  actual  majority 
of  the  delegates,  and  make  possible  the  nomination  of  a 
candidate  who  had  entered  the  Convention  with  little 
prospect  of  success. 

His  political  ascendancy  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  In  the 
early  stages  of  the  Convention  the  name  of  Mr.  Cleve 
land  was  wildly  cheered,  while  Mr.  Bryan's  was  re 
ceived  with  coldness.  However,  he  made  an  aggressive 
and  undaunted  fight,  giving  out  interviews  denouncing 
Judge  Parker  as  the  plutocratic  candidate,  and  declar 
ing  that  there  should  be  no  repudiation  of  the  stand 
the  party  had  taken  in  previous  campaigns  on  silver. 

With  the  nomination  of  Judge  Parker  assured,  the 
first  battle  over  the  platform  was  in  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions.  Mr.  Davis  was  the  West  Virginia  mem 
ber  of  that  committee,  as  he  had  been  in  many  previous 
conventions.  There  was  a  sharp  struggle  over  the  tar 
iff  plank  between  the  conservative  and  the  radical  tariff 
members.  Mr.  Bryan  won  on  this  plank.  Some  of  the 
gold  Democrats  were  in  full  agreement  with  his  tariff 
views,  but  there  were  intimations  that  others  who  did 
not  agree  with  him  consented  to  it  as  a  strategic  move 
to  oppose  him  on  the  silver  question.  Mr.  Davis  ac 
quiesced  in  the  phrasing  of  the  tariff  plank,  although  it 
was  not  entirely  acceptable  to  him. 

The  great  struggle  was  on  silver.  The  Eastern  dele 
gates  insisted  upon  a  recantation  of  the  former  pro 
nouncements  for  silver  and  a  declaration  upholding  the 
gold  standard.  Mr.  Bryan,  according  to  the  newspa 
per  reports  at  the  time,  stood  like  a  rock  against  such  a 
declaration,  and  the  committee  was  given  to  understand 
that  if  it  was  adopted  he  would  bolt.  A  compromise 
plank  was  phrased,  which  recited  in  substance  that  the 
discoveries  of  gold  during  the  last  few  years  and  the 


170  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

great  increase  in  its  production  had  contributed  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  standard  of  value  no  longer  open  to 
question,  removing  that  issue  from  the  field  of  political 
contention. 

Mr.  Bryan  made  an  aggressive,  determined  fight 
against  the  adoption  of  this  plank  by  the  convention. 
When  it  became  evident  that  no  declaration  framed  on 
this  line  could  be  adopted,  a  sub-committee  of  three  was 
appointed  to  devise  an  acceptable  compromise.  This 
sub-committee  consisted  of  David  B.  Hill,  John  Sharp 
Williams,  and  Mr.  Bryan  himself.  The  newspaper  re 
ports  of  the  sub-committee's  meeting  were  to  the  effect 
that  Mr.  Bryan  interposed  his  unyielding  opposition  to 
every  proposal  that  included  the  faintest  favorable  men 
tion  of  gold;  and  at  last  Mr.  Williams,  worn  to  the 
limit  of  endurance,  exclaimed : 

"Gentlemen,  we  never  can  get  together;  let  us  omit 
the  mention  of  money.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  Conven 
tion  and  report  a  plantform  freed  completely  of  this 
troublesome  question." 

"That  is  satisfactory  to  me/'  said  Mr.  Bryan. 

"Will  you  support  the  ticket  and  platform?"  asked 
Mr.  Hill. 

"I  certainly  will,"  replied  the  Nebraskan. 

The  Convention  ratified  this  compromise  platform, 
took  a  recess,  and  reassembled  in  the  evening  to  listen 
to  the  nominating  speeches.  The  voting  began  after 
midnight.  Mr.  Bryan  made  one  of  his  electrifying 
speeches  in  opposing  Judge  Parker,  and  supporting  Sen 
ator  F.  M.  Cockrell  of  Missouri.  "I  return  to  you  the 
standard  you  gave  me  to  bear,"  he  thundered.  "I  may 
have  failed  in  wisdom,  and  I  may  have  lost  the  fight, 
but  I  defy  any  man  to  say  that  I  have  been  false  to 
my  trust  or  untrue  to  the  faith  of  Democracy." 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  171 

Judge  Parker  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot,  and 
the  Convention  took  a  recess.  The  Parker  leaders  were 
in  doubt  regarding  the  most  available  candidate  for 
Vice-President.  Some  of  them  inclined  to  former  Gov 
ernor  Judson  Harmon  of  Ohio,  who  had  served  in 
Cleveland's  Cabinet  and  who  represented  the  same  con 
servative  tendencies  that  Judge  Parker  was  assumed  to 
represent.  But  John  R.  McLean,  the  owner  of  a  pow 
erful  newspaper  and  himself  a  political  factor  of  con 
sequence  in  Ohio,  was  strongly  opposed  to  Judge  Har 
mon.  Governor  Hill  and  others  of  the  men  represent 
ing  the  dominant  element  consulted.  Finally  some  one 
suggested  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Virginia. 

Having  been  for  free  silver,  and  having  supported 
Bryan,  it  was  felt  that  his  nomination  might  sweeten 
the  ticket  for  Mr.  Bryan.  At  the  same  time  his  large 
financial  interest  and  his  conservatism  would  make 
him  acceptable  to  the  Eastern  element  of  the  party. 
Moreover,  West  Virginia  was  a  doubtful  State,  and  if 
it  could  be  carried  for  the  Democratic  national  ticket  his 
personal  popularity  would  be  the  means  of  carrying  it. 
Search  was  begun  for  Mr.  Davis  and  word  was  brought 
that  he  had  left  on  his  special  car  the  evening  before. 
Nevertheless  it  was  decided  to  nominate  him,  and  this 
was  done  when  the  Convention  met  after  recess.  A 
telegram  notifying  him  of  the  action  of  the  Convention 
reached  him  at  Greenville,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Davis's  own  recital  of  the  events  that  brought 
him  into  the  vortex  of  national  politics  again  is  given 
with  his  customary  terseness  in  the  journal  entries  that 
follow : 

July  3,  1904.  I  go  to  St.  Louis  as  a  delegate-at-large  from 
West  Virginia. 

July   6.     Democratic    National    Convention    meets.      W.    Va. 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

delegation  stands  12  for  Senator  Gorman,  2  for  Hearst.  Gorman 
refuses  to  let  his  name  be  presented  to  Convention.  Consider 
able  sentiment  among  delegates  for  him. 

I  am  selected  by  W.  Va.  delegation  on  Committee  on  Resolu 
tions.  Senator  Daniels,  Virginia,  is  chairman  sub-committee  of 
ten.  Among  the  members  are  Senator  Hill  of  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Bryan, 
and  myself.  After  two  days'  work  and  an  all-night  session,  we 
get  a  unanimous  report  which  is  adopted  by  Convention. 

When  platform  was  adopted  I  thought  my  work  was  done.  I 
went  to  my  car  and  started  for  home.  On  my  way  I  was  tele 
graphed  I  was  being  voted  for  Vice-President.  This  was  a  great 
surprise  to  me.  I  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot,  and  made 
unanimous. 

July  10.  Sunday.  Came  from  St.  Louis  Democratic  Conven 
tion.  Was  met  at  Belington  by  a  band  which  came  to  Elkins. 
Was  met  at  depot  by  a  thousand  or  more  people  and  escorted 
home. 

This  very  modest  statement  gives  a  faint  idea  of  the 
reception  of  the  candidate.  Politics  were  forgotten  and 
he  was  received  as  a  fellow  citizen.  C.  Wood  Dailey 
made  a  brief  speech  introducing  him  to  the  friends  and 
neighbors  who  knew  him  so  well.  In  replying  to  it  he 
spoke  with  deep  feeling,  saying: 

"My  strongest  feeling  at  this  moment  is  my  gratifica 
tion  at  this  remarkable  expression  by  the  people  of  my 
own  town  of  their  kindly  feeling  and  good  will  toward 
me  personally.  In  this  gathering  I  see  many  who  do 
not  hold  my  political  faith,  and  among  them  our  dis 
tinguished  fellow  townsman,  Senator  Elkins.  All  this 
testifies  there  are  some  ties  between  them  that  for  the 
time  at  least  make  them  forget  party  politics  and  lead 
to  the  expression  of  personal  feeling  and  regard. 

"It  is  the  expression  of  your  personal  feeling  for  me 
for  which  I  wish  to  thank  you;  and  now,  as  it  is  Sun 
day,  and  this  besides  is  only  for  the  expressions  of  feel 
ing  of  kindly  interest,  let  me  retire,  and  in  doing  so  I 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  173 

will  introduce  my  friend  Senator  Elkins,  who,  differ 
with  me  as  he  may  in  politics,  feels  an  interest  in  our 
town  and  rejoices  in  every  honor  that  comes  to  it." 

Senator  Elkins,  in  speaking  briefly,  said: 

"This  quick  gathering  and  cordial  welcome  is  without 
party  significance.  It  is  the  enthusiastic  outburst  and 
expression  of  the  respect,  confidence,  admiration,  and 
affection  which  neighbors  and  friends  entertain  for  Sen 
ator  Davis,  who  has  done  so  much  to  promote  the 
growth  of  this  town  and  the  prosperity  of  our  great 
State. 

"His  nomination  for  the  office  of  Vice-President 
brings  not  only  honor  and  distinction  to  him,  but  to  us 
as  well,  and  as  neighbors  and  friends  we  share  in  it 
with  him.  I  am  sure  I  speak  for  every  member  of  this 
great  assemblage  when  I  say,  as  neighbors  and  friends 
we  are  each  and  all  glad  that  the  great  honor  which  the 
distinguished  Senator  so  richly  deserves  came  to  him 
without  his  seeking  it,  or  even  without  his  knowledge, 
and  as  neighbors  and  friends  we  rejoice  with  him/' 

The  signs  of  public  interest  throughout  the  country 
and  of  interest  in  his  personality  appear  in  this  entry  in 
the  journal : 

July  12.  Many  letters  and  telegrams  of  congratulation  on 
nomination  for  Vice-Presdt.  Many  callers  and  newspaper  re 
porters  at  Elkins.  Publishing  everything  that  occurs  or  has  hap 
pened. 

Meanwhile  a  new  turn  had  been  given  the  campaign 
probabilities  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  Convention. 
When  the  news  was  received  in  the  East  that  the  Con 
vention  in  its  platform  had  omitted  all  mention  of  gold 
or  silver,  there  was  much  dissatisfaction.  Judge  Parker 
acted  of  his  own  accord  to  correct  the  omission  by  send- 


174  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ing  the  following  message  to  William  F.  Sheahan,  one 
of  the  New  York  leaders : 

I  regard  the  gold  standard  as  firmly  and  irrevocably  established, 
and  shall  act  accordingly  if  the  action  of  the  Convention  to-day 
shall  be  ratified  by  the  people.  As  the  platform  is  silent  on  the 
subject,  my  view  should  be  made  known  to  the  convention,  and 
if  it  proves  to  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  majority  I  request  you  to 
decline  the  nomination  for  me  at  once,  so  that  another  may  be 
nominated  before  adjournment. 

ALTON  B.  PARKER. 

This  telegram  was  presented  to  the  Convention  after 
the  nomination  of  Mr.  Davis  for  Vice-President  at  a 
night  session.  It  stirred  afresh  the  opposition  of  the 
Bryan  supporters,  and  Mr.  Bryan  made  an  impassioned 
speech  of  denunciation.  The  Convention,  after  an 
angry  debate,  authorized  the  sending  of  the  following 
telegram  to  Judge  Parker : 

The  platform  adopted  by  this  Convention  is  silent  on  the  ques 
tion  of  the  monetary  standard  because  it  is  not  regarded  by  us  as 
a  possible  issue  in  this  campaign,  and  only  campaign  issues  were 
mentioned  in  the  platform.  Therefore  there  is  nothing  in  the 
views  expressed  by  you  in  the  telegram  just  received  which 
would  preclude  anyone  entertaining  them  from  accepting  a  nom 
ination  on  the  said  platform. 

Having  directed  this  resolution  to  be  sent  to  the  candi 
date  for  President,  the  Convention  adjourned  with  Par 
ker  and  Davis  as  the  ticket. 

For  a  time  there  was  a  question  regarding  Mr.  Bryan's 
intentions,  which  he  finally  answered  by  supporting  the 
ticket  in  his  own  way  and  with  his  own  interpretation  of 
the  issues  of  the  campaign. 

The  nomination  of  Mr.  Davis  seemed  likely  to  raise  a 
collateral  issue.  This  was  whether  any  political  party 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  175 

was  justified  in  nominating  a  man  of  his  age  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  since  there  was  always  the  possibility 
that  the  Vice-President  might  become  President.  Mr. 
Davis  was  then  past  fourscore.  His  eighty-first  birth 
day  would  be  celebrated  ten  days  after  the  election  in 
November.  Should  he  be  elected,  he  would  be  well  in  his 
eighty-second  year  when  he  assumed  office,  and  he  would 
be  expected  to  retain  his  physical  and  mental  vigor  until 
he  was  in  his  eighty-sixth  year. 

The  Republican  newspapers  took  the  matter  good- 
humoredly,  explaining  that  his  age  was  of  no  conse 
quence,  since  there  was  no  possibility  of  the  Democratic 
ticket  being  elected.  A  more  serious  view  was  taken  by 
some  of  the  Republican  leaders.  Elihu  Root  in  a  polit 
ical  speech,  while  making  kindly  reference  to  Mr.  Davis, 
criticized  the  action  of  his  party  in  nominating  a  candi 
date  of  his  age,  and  drew  a  somewhat  gruesome  picture 
of  its  possible  consequences. 

Mr.  Davis  was  unperturbed  by  the  discussion  of  his 
age.  He  was  so  accustomed  to  looking  forward  and  his 
mental  make-up  was  such  that  he  gave  no  more  atten 
tion  to  the  chances  of  mortality  for  himself  than  he 
would  have  given  to  any  man  nominated  at  half  his  age. 
After  a  short  period  of  rest  he  entered  vigorously  upon 
his  campaign.  In  the  middle  of  July  he  went  to  New 
York  to  attend  a  meeting  of  leading  Democrats  which 
Governor  Hill  had  called.  From  there  he  proceeded  to 
Esopus  to  see  Judge  Parker.  His  own  account  of  the 
interview  appears  in  his  journal : 

July  21.  I  go  up  to  Esopus,  Judge  Parker's  home  on  the  Hud 
son.  Spend  several  hours  with  the  Judge;  like  him  very  well. 
Canvass  starts  off  brightly. 


176  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Mr.  Davis,  the 
formal  notification  of  his  nomination'  was  made  at  White 
Sulphur  Springs.  His  account  follows : 

Aug.  10.  At  White  Sulphur  Springs  Hon.  John  S.  Williams 
of  Mississippi,  leader  of  House  of  Representatives,  notified  me 
officially  of  nomination  for  Vice-President.  I  replied.  A  great 
crowd  at  Springs  and  at  notification. 

Mr.  Williams  in  the  course  of  his  speech,  after  dis 
cussing  the  public  issues,  turned  to  the  personality  of  the 
candidate  for  Vice-President  and,  addressing  Mr.  Davis, 
said: 

"The  people  see  in  you  one  of  the  best  products  of  the 
best  period  of  American  institutions,  a  period  whose 
salient  characteristics  were  local  self-government,  indi 
viduality,  equal  opportunity,  and  freedom — freedom  to 
work,  freedom  to  buy  and  sell,  freedom  to  compete  in 
industrial  life,  resulting  in  self-dependence;  freedom  to 
develop  as  one's  own  master  and  not  merely  as  the  well 
trained  and  well  managed  industrial  servant  of  another. 
They  see  in  you  what  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said  is  a 
rare  thing,  a  self-made  man  who  is  yet  not  proud  of  his 
maker.  .  .  . 

"In  real  conclusion,  Mr.  Davis,  it  is  a  sincere  pleasure 
indeed  to  know  and  to  be  able  to  help  place  in  high  posi 
tion  a  man  of  your  character  and  sense  and  modesty;  a 
man  who,  as  the  result  of  a  life  of  continence,  temper 
ance,  self-containment  and  usefulness  and  honest  indus 
try,  presents  a  picture  in  virile  though  advanced  age  of 
mens  sana  in  corpore  sano  which  is  a  delight  to  the  eye, 
a  satisfaction  to  the  soul,  and  was  thought  by  wise  an 
cients  to  be  the  summum  bonum  of  individual  earthly 
existence." 

In  his  speech  of  acceptance  Mr.  Davis  touched  on 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  177 

one  point  with  a  deep  degree  of  sentiment.     He  said: 

"I  find  it  a  great  pleasure,  standing  here  upon  the  bor 
derland  of  the  two  Virginias,  to  receive  and  accept  any 
commission  you  bear,  and  to  send  greetings  through  you 
to  the  Democracy  of  the  entire  country.  Is  it  not  signifi 
cant  of  a  closer  and  truer  brotherhood  among  us  that,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  Civil  War,  a  nominee  on  the  na 
tional  ticket  has  been  taken  from  that  section  of  our  com 
mon  country  that  lies  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line — 
a  happy  recognition  of  the  obliteration  of  all  sectional 
differences  which  led  to  and  followed  that  unhappy 
struggle?" 

Continuing,  he  attacked  the  Republicans  in  the  na 
tional  administration  for  extravagance,  held  them  re 
sponsible  for  unfavorable  business  conditions,  recalled 
that  they  had  favored  the  double  standard,  and  spoke 
particularly  of  his  own  attitude  on  the  rights  of  labor. 
He  paid  this  tribute  to  Judge  Parker : 

"He  is  a  man  of  courage,  yet  prudent ;  of  high  ideals, 
yet  without  pretense ;  of  the  most  wholesome  respect  for 
the  Constitution  and  the  majesty  of  the  laws  under  it,  and 
a  sacred  regard  for  their  limitations;  of  the  clearest 
sense  of  justice  which  would  rebel  against  compounding 
a  wrong  to  an  individual  or  a  nation ;  positive  in  convic 
tion,  yet  of  few  words ;  strong  in  mental  and  moral  attri 
butes,  and  yet  withal  modest  and  reserved ;  possessed  of  a 
sturdy  constitution  and  magnificent  manhood,  and  yet 
temperate  in  his  actions  and  dignified  in  his  demeanor/' 

Referring  to  his  party,  he  said  that,  while  there  had 
been  differences  in  the  preceding  campaigns,  yet  at  St. 
Louis  they  were  all  harmonized  and  a  common  ground 
was  found  upon  which  all  could  stand  and  do  battle  for 
Democratic  principles.  Concerning  the  platform  he 
said: 


i;8  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"I  heartily  indorse  the  platform  upon  which  I  have 
been  nominated,  and,  with  the  Convention  and  its  nom 
inee  for  President,  regard  the  present  monetary  standard 
of  value  as  irrevocably  established." 

A  further  exposition  of  his  views  was  promised  in  his 
letter  of  acceptance,  to  be  made  public  in  September.  In 
it  Mr.  Davis  criticized  the  increasing  cost  of  government 
under  Republican  administration.  A  paragraph  was 
given  to  imperialism  in  which  he  noted  its  tendency  to 
drift  to  absolutism  and  centralized  power.  The  policy, 
he  insisted,  was  always  dangerous  to  liberty.  Concern 
ing  the  tariff  he  declared  in  favor  of  a  wise,  conserva 
tive,  and  gradual  change  that  would  equalize  burdens  of 
taxation  and  make  honest  competition  possible;  but  ex 
pressed  the  opinion  that  in  making  such  change  due  re 
gard  should  be  had  for  capital  and  labor  involved  in  in 
dustrial  enterprise.  He  reiterated  his  conviction  that 
local  self-government  could  be  maintained  only  by  strict 
observance  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  He  discussed 
in  some  detail  civil  service  and  the  race  issue,  and  he  re 
newed  his  tribute  to  Judge  Parker.  Concerning  arbi 
tration  he  observed :  "The  spirit  of  arbitration  is  kindred 
to  the  love  of  law  and  order." 

It  is  part  of  the  political  history  of  that  campaign  that 
it  was  not  without  friction,  and  that  the  managers  had 
some  trouble  in  holding  the  various  party  leaders  to 
gether.  In  September  'Mr.  Davis  went  to  New  York  to 
meet  the  members  of  the  Democratic  National  Commit 
tee  and  Judge  Parker.  In  October  a  ratification  meeting 
was  held  at  Baltimore,  over  which  Senator  Gorman  pre 
sided.  Mr.  Davis  made  a  speech,  also  Governor  Hill, 
Senator  Daniels,  and  his  warm  friend,  former  Governor 
William  Pinckney  Whyte.  After  that,  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  was  given  to  meetings  in  West  Virginia.  He 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  179 

traveled  on  a  special  train  and  spoke  constantly.  His 
journal  records  making  "eighty  or  ninety"  speeches, 
which  in  itself  showed  what  a  vigorous  campaigner  he 
was  at  eighty-one. 

An  incident  of  great  interest  in  the  campaign  was  the 
visit  of  William  J.  Bryan.  Late  in  October  Mr.  Bryan 
entered  the  State  at  Parkersburg,  and  from  there  went 
to  Huntington  and  Charleston.  Mr.  Davis  met  him  at 
Parkersburg.  Mr.  Bryan  in  his  speeches  supported  the 
ticket  in  his  own  way  and  interpreted  the  platform  after 
his  own  manner,  but  he  showed  his  appreciation  of  the 
loyal  support  Mr.  Davis  had  given  him  when  he  was  the 
candidate. 

As  the  campaign  drew  to  an  end  very  little  doubt  re 
mained  concerning  the  outcome.  Mr.  Davis  had  excel 
lent  opportunities  of  learning  the  Republican  view  from 
his  son-in-law,  Senator  Elkins,  who  was  active  in  the 
Republican  national  campaign.  The  recollection  of  the 
family  is  that  during  the  canvass  the  Democratic  candi 
date  for  Vice-President  and  the  Republican  Senator, 
when  they  met  at  their  homes  in  Elkins,  discussed  the 
weather,  the  crops,  the  continuous  development  of  West 
Virginia,  the  railway  enterprises  in  which  they  were  in 
terested,  and  kindred  topics.  There  is  even  a  legend 
that  Senator  Elkins,  at  several  of  the  passing  interviews, 
was  carried  away  by  the  beauty  of  the  mountain  scenery 
surrounding  them,  and  complimented  Mr.  Davis  on  his 
foresight  and  energy  in  turning  this  part  of  the  wilder 
ness  into  the  dream  city  that  it  had  become. 

Mr.  Davis  was  very  anxious  to  carry  his  own  State, 
and  in  ordinary  circumstances  the  large  personal  follow 
ing  he  had  among  Republicans,  and  the  deep  esteem  felt 
for  him  by  men  of  all  parties,  might  have  influenced  the 
voting.  Had  he  been  the  candidate  for  Governor  there 


180  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

is  little  question  that  this  esteem  would  have  found  ex 
pression  ;  but  his  Republican  friends  looked  upon  the  na 
tional  campaign  as  one  of  issues*  and  not  of  men,  and 
were  not  inclined  to  vote  the  national  ticket  of  the  oppo 
sition  party  in  order  to  show  their  esteem  for  the  candi 
date  for  Vice-President. 

There  is  no  reason  to  assume  that  during  the  last  few 
weeks  of  the  campaign  Mr.  Davis  deceived  himself  into 
believing  that  the  Democratic  national  ticket  would  be 
successful.  His  philosophic  view  of  the  campaign  is 
summed  up  in  his  journal  in  this  manner : 

November  8,  1904.  Election  day.  It  is  generally  believed 
Roosevelt  will  be  elected.  I  make  a  good  vote  in  Elkins  and 
Randolph  County. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  we  hear  enough  to  know  we  lose  and  Re 
publicans  win.  Victory  for  Roosevelt  is  great. 

The  objection  made  during  the  campaign  by  his  oppo 
nents  and  the  thought  which  lodged  in  the  minds  of  many 
of  his  political  supporters,  that  if  elected  he  might  not 
live  throughout  his  term,  or  might  become  incapacitated 
for  performing  the  duties  of  Vice-President,  or  Presi 
dent  should  the  chief  executive  die,  is  interesting  to  recall 
in  the  light  of  the  activities  of  Mr.  Davis  from  March, 
1905,  to  March,  1909.  His  business  affairs  having  been 
neglected  during  the  campaign,  he  applied  himself  assid 
uously  to  them,  and  particularly  to  the  favorite  project 
of  his  later  years,  the  Coal  and  Coke  Railway. 

His  journal  records,  during  1905,  various  conferences 
with  railway  officials  of  connecting  lines  to  make  traffic 
arrangements,  a  horseback  trip  over  part  of  the  route, 
and  the  actual  opening  of  the  road  for  traffic.  In  the 
three  years  following  there  are  similar  entries  regarding 
the  progress  of  the  road,  inspections  of  timber  and  coal 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  181 

properties,  and  various  details  of  financing  the  line, 
as  well  as  particulars  regarding  other  business  enter 
prises. 

Interest  in  his  own  business  during  this  period  did  not 
preclude  broader  interests.  The  annual  meeting  of  the 
West  Virginia  State  Board  of  Trade  rarely  found  him 
absent.  When  the  State  Bankers'  Association  met  he 
was  almost  invariably  present ;  and  at  its  annual  meeting 
in  1907,  at  Elkins,  he  entertained  his  successful  com 
petitor  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  Charles  W.  Fairbanks, 
who  delivered  an  address.  During  this  period  he  gave 
his  regular  annual  dinners  to  railway  presidents,  and 
supplemented  them  by  dinners  to  the  permanent  Pan- 
American  Railway  Committee. 

Philanthropies  and  benefactions  received  the  attention 
he  had  for  many  years  given  them.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  Child's  Shelter  of  Charles 
ton,  both  of  which  were  very  dear  to  his  heart,  are  fre 
quently  mentioned  in  his  journal  in  connection  with  his 
visits  and  contributions  to  them.  There  are  similar  en 
tries  concerning  the  Davis  and  Elkins  College  at  Elkins, 
with  various  details,  and  in  particular  the  building  of  a 
house  for  the  president  of  the  college.  Home-coming 
week  at  Baltimore,  in  1907,  was  one  of  the  passing  inci 
dents  of  the  period,  as  were  h-s  benefactions  to  the  Odd 
Fellows  Lodge  with  which  he  had  been  affiliated. 

Political  affairs,  notwithstanding  his  absorption  in 
business  and  philanthropies,  still  filled  a  large  space  in 
his  activities.  In  1906,  and  again  in  1908,  his  party 
talked  of  him  as  the  candidate  for  Governor,  but  this  talk 
he  discouraged.  In  February,  1907,  he  made  an  inci 
dental  visit  to  the  Senate,  when  Vice-President  Fair 
banks,  noting  his  presence,  and  also  the  presence  of  two 
other  octogenarians,  Senator  Pettus  of  Alabama  and 


182  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

former  Senator  William  Pinckney  Whyte  of  Maryland, 
gracefully  sent  each  a  white  rose.  Mr.  Whyte  and 
Mr.  Davis  had  been  colleagues  in  the  Senate  thirty  years 
earlier.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  the  chaplain,  was  also 
an  octogenarian,  and  was  a  great  believer  in  the  peace 
making  influence  of  the  Pan-American  Railway,  of 
which  Mr.  Davis  was  the  sponsor. 

As  the  Presidential  year  approached,  Mr.  Davis 
showed  his  usual  interest  in  the  candidates  of  both  par 
ties,  and  indicated  his  personal  preference  by  a  news 
paper  interview  favoring  Judge  George  Gray  of  Dela 
ware  as  the  Democratic  candidate.  In  his  journal  entry 
on  Washington's  Birthday,  1908,  he  noted  that  it  looked 
as  if  Bryan,  Democrat,  and  Taft,  Republican,  would  be 
the  nominees  for  President.  He  did  not  seek  election  as 
a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  National  Convention,  but 
in  the  campaign  he  supported  Mr.  Bryan  actively  and 
heartily. 

When  inauguration  day,  1909,  came,  the  day  that 
would  have  ended  his  term  as  Vice-President  had  he  been 
elected,  he  was  in  the  full  possession  of  his  powers  and 
was  giving  very  close  attention  to  his  railway  and  to  his 
philanthropies.  In  1910  he  helped  his  party  in  its  State 
campaign,  and  there  was  a  move  for  his  election  as  Sen 
ator,  after  it  became  assured  that  the  Democrats  had  a 
majority  in  the  Legislature.  The  Washington  Star,  in 
an  editorial  article  in  November,  commented  on  this  pos 
sibility,  with  special  reference  to  Mr.  Davis's  position  on 
the  tariff : 

It  would  be  an  event  of  the  highest  national  interest  if  at 
eighty-seven,  and  after  a  long  rest  from  office,  Henry  Gassaway 
Davis  should  reappear  in  the  Senate.  Despatches  from  West  Vir 
ginia  mention  his  name.  Other  names  are  mentioned,  those  of 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  183 

men  of  merit  and  ability,  but  that  of  Mr.  Davis  is  the  most  prom 
inent  of  all,  and  in  the  country  generally  will  command  much 
attention. 

This  well  preserved  veteran  has  had  a  remarkable  career.  Be 
ginning  life  in  humble  circumstances,  he  addressed  himself  first 
to  business  and  then  to  politics,  and  achieved  notable  success  in 
both  fields.  He  made  both  money  and  reputation,  and  when  he 
reached  the  Senate  took  rank  there  with  the  men  known  as 
workers.  He  was  heard  more  frequently  in  committee  than  in 
open  Senate,  though  not  a  silent  man  when  the  debates  played 
around  subjects  that  quickened  his  thought. 

Other  newspapers  also  discussed  the  possibility  of  Mr. 
Davis  becoming  a  candidate,  and  the  entries  in  his  jour 
nal  indicate  conferences  with  some  of  his  party  friends 
on  the  subject.  The  talk  was  not  displeasing  to  him,  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  gave  it  serious  con 
sideration. 

At  the  Jackson  Day  banquet  of  his  party  in  Washing 
ton,  on  January  8,  1912,  Mr.  Davis  was  one  of  the  most 
notable  figures.  A  thousand  prominent  members  of  the 
party  from  all  parts  of  the  country  were  present,  includ 
ing  several  candidates  for  the  nomination  for  President, 
and  a  former  candidate  in  the  person  of  Judge  Alton  B. 
Parker.  When  Mr.  Davis  came  in  he  was  cheered  for 
several  minutes,  and  escorted  to  the  toastmaster's  table, 
where  he  made  a  brief  acknowledgment.  The  following 
day  he  told  one  of  his  friends  that  the  address  that  had 
mostly  deeply  impressed  him  was  that  of  Governor 
Woodrow  Wilson  of  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  Davis's  interest  in  national  politics  this  year  was 
keen,  and  was  exerted,  as  usual,  toward  conservatism. 
He  attended  the  Democratic  State  Convention  at  Par- 
kersburg  in  June,  and  was  elected  a  delegate-at-large  to 
the  National  Convention.  The  State  Convention  in- 


1 84  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

structed  for  Speaker  Champ  Clark;  but  Mr.  Davis  told 
the  Convention  that  his  choice  for  President  was  Gov 
ernor  Harmon  of  Ohio. 

Developments  in  the  Republican  party  are  described 
briefly  in  these  journal  entries : 

June  19,  1912.  Republicans  are  having  a  lively  time  in  Chicago 
National  Convention.  Taft  and  Roosevelt  are  candidates,  and 
are  very  hostile  and  bitter. 

June  20.  Taft  had  majority  of  convention  of  about  seventy, 
and  was  nominated.  Roosevelt  bolts,  and  becomes  a  candidate. 

Mr.  Davis  went  to  Baltimore  in  the  latter  part  of  June. 
It  was  the  ninth  National  Convention  of  his  party  that  he 
had  attended.  Forty-four  years  earlier  he  had  made 
his  first  appearance  as  a  delegate  in  the  Convention  that 
met  at  New  York  and  nominated  Seymour  and  Blair. 
Owing  to  the  great  heat,  he  did  not  remain  at  Baltimore 
until  the  end  of  the  sessions.  While  not  in  full  sympathy 
with  some  of  the  tendencies  that  were  manifested,  he 
gave  his  hearty  support  to  Wilson  and  Marshall,  and 
during  the  campaign  cooperated  with  the  Democratic 
National  Committee.  Though  unable  to  make  speeches, 
he  prepared  newspaper  interviews  in  which  he  reiterated 
some  of  his  favorite  views  about  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  under  Democratic  rule  and  the  extravagance  of 
Republican  administrations.  In  these  interviews  he 
quoted  freely  from  Governor  Wilson's  speech  of  accept 
ance,  and  approved  the  candidate's  pronouncement  in 
favor  of  an  early  and  gradual  revision  of  the  tariff  down 
ward. 


CHAPTER  XII 

BUSINESS   ACTIVITIES   AT   FOURSCORE  AND   BEYOND 

A  busy  man's  casual  enumeration  of  his  interests — Sale  of  the 
West  Virginia  Central  Railway — Looking  around  for  new  fields 
to  employ  capital — Imprisoned  resources  in  heart  of  the  State — 
Mineral  and  timber  reserves  awaiting  an  outlet — Coal  and  Coke 
Railway  projected  by  Mr.  Davis — Route  from  Elkins  to  Charles 
ton — Exploring  trips  at  eighty — Progress  of  the  line  described — 
First  train  when  the  builder  was  eighty- four — Communities 
brought  into  life — Mr.  Davis  as  active  head  of  the  railroad — 
Looking  after  the  traffic  and  finances — Local  development  enter 
prises — Other  business  responsibilities 

APPROACHING    fourscore,    Mr.    Davis    had 
found  there  was  still  work  for  him  to  do.     The 
scope  of  his  activities  as  he  reached  the  allotted 
biblical  age  are  indicated  in  an  entry  in  his  journal  in 
April,  1901,  apparently  made  casually,  like  so  many  other 
entries.     This  is  it : 

My  health  is  good,  and  I  am  quite  a  busy  man.  Am  President 
West  Va.  Central  &  Pittsburgh  Railway;  Piedmont  &  Cumber 
land  Railway;  Coal  &  Iron  Railway;  Davis  Coal  &  Coke  Com 
pany;  Empire  Coal  &  Coke  Company;  Washington  Coal  &  Coke 
Company;  Mill  Creek  Coal  &  Coke  Company;  Marshall  Coal  & 
Coke  Company;  Valley  Coal  &  Coke  Company;  Queen's  Coal  & 
Coke  Company;  Davis  National  Bank,  Piedmont;  Trust  Com 
pany  of  West  Va. ;  United  States  Delegate  Conference  American 
Republics,  which  meets  Mexico  City  October  22,  1901 ;  West  Va. 
Tax  Commision,  appointed  by  Governor  to  revise  tax  laws. 

Circumstances  contributed  to  give  a  fresh  start  to 
these  business  activities,  and  at  fourscore  and  beyond  to 

185 


i86  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

make  him  an  even  busier  man  than  he  had  recited  in  his 
journal.  Twenty  years  of  his  management  and  develop 
ment  of  the  West  Virginia  Central  Railway  had  made  it 
a  very  valuable  property,  with  greater  possibilities  in  the 
future  as  part  of  one  of  the  larger  railway  systems  of  the 
country.  The  representatives  of  a  number  of  important 
lines  had  seen  these  possibilities,  and  had  begun  nego 
tiations  for  its  purchase.  One  of  these  lines  was  the 
Wabash,  then  under  the  control  of  the  Goulds.  They 
wanted  a  railroad  into  Pittsburgh  from  the  region  tapped 
by  the  West  Virginia  Central  and  they  had  purchased  the 
Western  Maryland  with  this  object  in  view.  This  road 
then  reached  Hagerstown,  and  an  extension  to  Cumber 
land  was  projected. 

At  Cumberland  the  West  Virginia  Central  would 
make  a  natural  prolongation.  The  negotiations  for  its 
purchase  were  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1901,  before  Mr. 
Davis  left  for  Mexico  as  one  of  the  delegates  to  the 
Pan-American  Conference.  They  were  continued  with 
Senator  Elkins  and  others  of  those  who  were  largely  in 
terested,  while  Mr.  Davis  in  Mexico  City,  by  letter  and 
telegraph,  kept  a  guiding  hand  on  the  whole  transaction. 
The  outcome  was  that  the  West  Virginia  Central  was 
sold  by  its  owners  on  a  basis  of  complete  transfer.  It 
was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Davis  that,  having  been  the 
head  of  the  system  and  responsible  for  its  management, 
he  did  not  care  to  be  further  identified  with  it  after  he 
had  parted  with  his  interest  beyond  exerting  a  friendly 
personal  influence  toward  the  new  management. 

The  sale  of  the  West  Virginia  Central  Railway  was 
consummated  early  in  January,  1902,  after  Mr.  Davis 
had  returned  from  Mexico.  In  consequence  he  found 
himself  in  the  possession  of  several  million  dollars  cash 
capital.  At  fourscore  he  might  have  invested  it  in  Gov- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  187 

ernment  bonds  or  similar  securities ;  but  this  would  have 
meant  idle  capital,  and  the  idea  of  idle  capital  was  as  re 
pugnant  to  him  as  that  of  himself  becoming  an  idle  in 
dividual.  Moreover,  his  ambitions  for  West  Virginia 
in  the  way  of  developing  the  country  had  not  yet  been 
satisfied.  There  was  a  large  region  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  State,  contiguous  to  the  section  he  had  already  de 
veloped,  whose  vast  resources  of  coal  and  timber  were 
imprisoned  resources  because  no  means  of  transporta 
tion  for  them  existed. 

This  region  stretched  off  toward  Charleston,  the  cap 
ital,  on  the  Kanawha  River.  A  railway  line  reaching  the 
Kanawha  there  would  open  up  these  resources  through 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  and  the  Western  Maryland  sys 
tems  on  the  north,  and  through  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
and  the  Kanawha  and  Michigan  Railway  on  the  south. 
It  would  be  a  real  artery  for  West  Virginia.  Tidewater 
would  be  accessible,  and  also  the  Ohio  Valley  and  the 
Great  Lakes. 

The  railroad  would  involve  engineering  difficulties 
greater  than  those  encountered  in  the  building  of  the 
West  Virginia  Central,  because  much  tunneling  would 
be  required.  This  may  have  been  one  of  the  reasons  why 
it  appealed  to  Mr.  Davis,  since  his  whole  career  had  been 
to  undertake  projects  when  impelled  by  obstacles.  Rail 
way  building  on  the  prairies  would  not  have  appealed  to 
him. 

He  had  studied  the  region  with  his  usual  thoroughness. 
Away  back  in  1874,  when  the  West  Virginia  Central  was 
a  concept  rather  than  a  project,  his  journal  had  recited 
the  details  of  a  trip  to  Tucker,  Randolph,  and  Barbour 
counties  to  look  at  coal  deposits  "of  which  much  has 
been  said."  Regarding  one  section  of  this  region  he 
further  recorded: 


i88  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

I  find  on  Roaring  Creek  at  or  near  Crawford  Scott's  and  I.  K. 
Scott's  a  vein  of  coal  open  in  several  places;  the  vein  from  top 
to  bottom  is  about  1 1  feet,  about  2,^/2,  feet  top  and  bottom  of  coal, 
then  a  slate  from  one  to  two  on  this  and  about  6  feet  of  piece  or 
good  coal  in  center.  I  do  not  think  it  the  vein  of  this  region  or 
Pittsburgh ;  it  looks  more  like  the  Myer's  Mill  or  Connellsville  & 
Uniontown  veins. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  as  well  of  the  Randolph  or 
Roaring  Creek  coal  deposit  as  I  had  been  led  to  suppose.  The 
Clarksburg  vein  I  think  is  more  over  toward  Buckhannon  and 
Weston,  say  in  Upshur  County. 

Later  inspection  seems  to  have  given  him  a  more 
favorable  idea  of  the  coal  prospects  in  this  district,  and 
when  his  determination  to  continue  developing  the  re 
gion  had  been  reached,  he  began  making  extensive  pur 
chases.  Quite  simply  in  his  journal  in  February,  1902, 
he  records : 

I  have  bought  from  E.  J.  Berwind,  New  York,  his  Roaring 
Creek  coal  property  and  railway  (twenty-two  miles,  $875,000). 

In  the  meantime  he  had  formulated  his  plan,  so  that 
there  was  little  delay  in  the  organization  of  the  Coal  and 
Coke  Railway  Company.  It  was  entirely  Mr.  Davis's 
individual  enterprise,  and  remained  so  until  the  line  had 
been  actually  completed,  when  some  of  his  former  asso 
ciates  joined  with  him.  His  first  move  was  to  gain 
possession  of  a  link  that  already  had  been  built.  Pitts 
burgh  capitalists  and  mine-owners  had  constructed  a 
railway  known  as  the  Charleston,  Clendennin  and  Sutton 
from  the  Kanawha  at  Charleston  to  Sutton,  a  distance  of 
sixty-four  miles.  It  had  the  disadvantage,  in  railway 
terms,  of  ending  nowhere,  and  its  extension  had  not 
proved  inviting  enough  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  cap 
italists. 

Mr.  Davis  acted  in  his  usual  direct  manner.     He 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  189 

fixed  an  upset  price,  and  sent  to  Pittsburgh  a  confidential 
representative,  who  quickly  closed  the  transaction  with 
the  owners.  Then  the  construction  of  the  intervening 
links  of  this  line  was  begun.  Henry  G.  Davis,  railway 
builder,  eighty  years  old,  was  at  work  again.  He  gave 
his  personal  attention,  as  usual,  to  every  detail  of  the 
building  of  the  railway,  overseeing  the  letting  of  the 
contracts  and  also  the  way  in  which  they  were  carried 
out.  His  own  story  of  the  construction  is  told  with  his 
usual  simplicity,  or  rather  is  gathered  from  the  occa 
sional  entries  in  his  journal.  In  February,  1902,  he 
recorded  the  purchase  of  coal  lands  in  Randolph,  Upshur, 
Braxton,  and  Gilmer  counties.  Two  months  later,  not 
ing  further  purchases,  he  said :  "We  have  bought  in  all 
about  one  hundred  thousand  acres." 

In  June  he  states :  "I  am  pushing  along  Coal  and  Coke 
Railway.  No  one  has  an  interest  except  myself." 
Later  in  the  same  month  he  records : 

On  the  nth  Bower,  Robb,  Moore,  and  I  left  Elkins  by  way  of 
Roaring  Creek  Junction;  rode  over  line  of  Coal  and  Coke  Rail 
way  now  being  constructed  by  myself,  intended  to  go  through  our 
coal-fields  to  French  Creek  coal-field,  west  of  Buchan  River,  five 
or  six  miles  above  the  town  of  Buckhannon.  We  staid  overnight 
at  Ford's  Half  Way  House;  next  day  by  way  of  Gray  Run  to 
Sago,  a  station  on  railway.  We  returned  by  way  of  Middle 
Fork  of  Valley  River  and  Sand  Run. 

In  October  of  the  same  year  he  records :  "We  are  push 
ing  along  Coal  and  Coke  road ;  between  500  and  600  men 
at  work  grading  and  in  first  tunnel." 

There  were  numerous  other  trips  over  the  route  in 
the  following  months.  Quite  casually  is  recorded  in 
some  detail  a  horseback  trip  in  May,  1903.  Mr.  Davis 
was  then  well  along  in  his  eightieth  year.  Other  mem 
bers  of  the  party,  very  much  younger,  after  they  got 


190  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

back  spoke  of  it  as  a  hard  trip,  but  there  was  no  indica 
tion  of  hardship  in  the  account  given  by  the  eighty-year- 
old  leader.  It  runs  as  follows : 

May  27,  1903.  On  Morning  of  i8th  inst,  John  [son],  Lee, 
Bowers,  Robb,  and  myself  left  Elkins  for  Charleston,  W.  Va., 
over  contemplated  route  Coal  and  Coke  Railway  from  Elkins  to 
Charleston. 

Went  by  rail  to  tunnel  No.  I  at  Kings,  from  there  by 
way  Grassy  Run  to  Sago ;  staid  overnight. 

From  tunnel  No.  I  and  Sago  on  horses  by  way  of  French  Creek 
and  Ball  Run  to  Burnsville,  stop  overnight,  then  by  Little  Hand 
4  miles  to  Copen  Run,  up  that  Run  to  Peshens  Run,  stop  for 
dinner  at  Mr.  Peshens,  then  over  24  tunnel  to  waters  of 
Otter  Creek  and  Elk  River.  Staid  at  Mr.  Bogg's  at  Frametown 
overnight.  Next  morning  we  started  on  horseback  about  6.30. 
From  Frametown  to  Big  Otter,  end  at  present  of  our  Charles 
ton  &  Sutton  Road,  then  to  Charleston  by  rail  (64  miles). 
Staid  Charleston  Thursday  evening  to  Saturday  morning  and 
started  back  home. 

Sutton  Sunday  for  dinner,  then  over  Nole's  Creek  Route  to 
Burnsville,  engineer  Chatman  accompanied  us  going  and  com 
ing.  Between  Frenchton  and  Elk  River  distance  about  56  miles. 
We  reach  Elkins  noon  on  Tuesday  26th. 

I  was  in  3  coal  openings  each  about  7  feet,  I  with  two  postings 
amounting  to  say  10  in.,  one  opening  on  Gray  Run,  one  on 
Copen  Run,  one  Elk  River  (O'Brien's).  Was  fairly  well  pleased 
with  route.  Think  average  cost  of  road  between  Elkins  and 
Charleston  (175  miles)  will  be  about  $25,000  per  mile.  Mouth 
Copen  Run  also  Jacob  .  .  .  bell  good  ground  for  siding  stations. 

There  were  numerous  other  trips,  sometimes  on  con 
struction  trains,  sometimes  on  horseback,  and  sometimes 
over  difficult  sections  on  foot.  The  eighty-year-old  pe 
destrian  was  as  hardy  as  the  eighty-year-old  horseman, 
and  his  younger  companions  always  marveled  that  he 
did  not  seem  to  share  their  fatigue.  The  grading  and 
the  tunneling  were  the  subject  of  frequent  observations 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  191 

on  his  part,  but  there  were  also  notes  regarding  sidings, 
the  best  points  for  station  yards  and  towns,  and  provi 
sions  for  operation  and  traffic.  Further  land  purchases 
also  were  recorded.  There  were  likewise  interviews 
with  officials  of  connecting  lines. 

A  visit  to  Elkins  by  George  J.  Gould  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Ramsey,  the  president  of  the  Wabash,  is  recorded,  in 
which  the  relations  of  the  new  road  are  discussed.  The 
interview  was  thus  told : 

I  talked  to  Messrs.  Gould  and  Ramsey  about  our  new  road 
under  construction  from  Charleston  here.  They  talked  fair  and 
liberal.  Upon  the  whole  the  interview  was  agreeable  to  each 
of  us. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  the  rapid  progress  that 
the  road  was  making  is  stated  in  a  brief  entry: 

Last  week  General  Manager  Bower  and  I  took  cars  to  Tunnel 
No.  2  as  far  as  Coal  and  Coke  was  completed ;  then  horseback  to 
Sago,  Tunnel  Mill  beyond  the  Buckhannon  River,  returned  same 
day.  Found  construction  going  on  fairly  well.  Hope  to  get  road 
completed  to  Buckhannon  River  by  January,  1904. 

One  of  the  final  stages  in  the  construction  of  the  line  is 
indicated  in  the  journal  entry  of  June  15,  1905 : 

Returned  last  night  from  a  horseback  trip  over  Coal  and  Coke 
Railway  as  far  as  Gassaway.  We  expect  to  get  road  through 
by  November.  We  are  urging  the  contractor  to  push  the  grad 
ing.  The  town  of  Gassaway  is  improving  fast.  We  are  putting 
in  foundation  for  engine  house,  and  will  soon  start  shops. 

The  main  line  was  completed  in  December,  1905,  and 
the  first  train  was  run  through  from  Elkins  to  Charles 
ton  in  January,  1906.  A  local  newspaper  gave  this  brief 
account  of  the  consummation  of  the  Railway  Builder's 
latest  project: 


192  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Saturday  last  in  the  small  hamlet  of  Walkersville,  Lewis  County, 
the  last  spike  was  driven  fastening  the  rails  of  the  northern  and 
southern  ends  of  one  of  the  most  stupendous  enterprises  in  the 
way  of  railroad  construction  ever  undertaken  in  this  State. 
Three  years  ago  Senator  Davis  laid  the  plans  for  the  building 
of  a  line  of  railway  between  the  cities  of  Elkins  and  Charleston 
to  develop  and  carry  to  market  the  coal  from  the  vast  holdings 
in  the  counties  of  Randolph,  Upshur,  Lewis,  Braxton,  and  Gil- 
mer.  This  enterprise  does  not  stop  with  the  aim  that  may  be 
construed,  but  brings  into  close  business  relation  counties  of  the 
interior  and  opens  an  avenue  of  commerce  that  will  do  more  for 
the  undeveloped  portions  of  the  State  than  any  line  heretofore 
constructed. 

Under  the  generalship  of  W.  H.  Bower,  general  manager, 
work  has  been  in  prbgress  almost  night  and  day  without  inter 
ruption  on  the  175  miles.  While  it  is  true  by  the  purchase  of 
the  Charleston,  Glendennin  &  Sutton  Railway,  63  miles  of  road 
is  used,  it  was  necessary  to  reconstruct  it  by  relaying  of  heavier 
rails  and  filling  of  trestles,  all  of  which  work  was  done  without 
interruption  to  the  large  traffic.  On  the  100  miles  of  new  road 
it  was  necessary  to  pierce  the  mountain  twelve  times,  making  a 
total  distance  of  four  miles  underground.  Thirty  steel  bridges 
were  built,  crossing  the  many  streams.  Cuts  and  fills  along  the 
mountains  reach  a  height  of  100  feet.  The  roadbed  is  being  cov 
ered  with  crushed  limestone  sixteen  inches  deep.  This  gives  but 
a  rough  idea  with  what  thoroughness  the  construction  has  under 
gone. 

The  Coal  and  Coke  Railway  in  reaching  the  Kanawha 
crossed  five  rivers — Tygart's  Valley,  Middle  Fork,  Buck- 
hannon,  Little  Kanawha,  and  Elk.  This,  taken  with  the 
tunnels,  afforded  some  idea  of  the  engineering  difficulties. 
But  these  streams  also  offered  the  prospect  of  developing 
great  timber  tracts  as  well  as  coal-mines.  The  line  also 
traversed  some  oil  lands,  so  that  there  was  the  normal 
basis  for  industrial  development. 

Communities  sprang  up  along  the  line  just  as  they  had 
come  to  life  along  the  line  of  the  West  Virginia  Central. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  193 

About  midway  of  the  route,  where  the  road  crossed  Elk 
River,  the  new  town  of  Gassaway  was  established.  Here 
the  company's  shops  were  located  and  it  became  the  prin 
cipal  divisional  headquarters  of  the  railway.  Other 
towns  sprang  up  through  the  development  of  the  natural 
resources,  particularly  timber  and  coal,  in  the  surround 
ing  regions. 

Mr.  Davis  was  in  his  eighty-fourth  year  when  the  rail 
way  was  opened  for  traffic  through  from  Elkins  to 
Charleston.  Before  that,  in  order  to  reach  the  State 
capital  from  the  northern  counties,  a  roundabout  journey 
had  been  necessary,  requiring  two  or  three  days  over 
different  railway  systems.  Thenceforth  it  was  possible 
to  make  the  through  trip  in  a  single  day.  He  had  cov 
ered  every  section  of  the  road  with  the  engineering  par 
ties.  He  had  watched  the  construction  of  every  mile  of 
it.  But,  far  more  than  this,  he  had  traversed  the  sur 
rounding  regions  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  so  that  he 
knew  what  their  resources  were. 

The  Railway  Builder  who  went  to  work  again  at  four 
score  might  have  considered  his  labors  ended  at  eighty- 
four;  but  he  continued  to  give  the  enterprise  his  close 
personal  attention,  directing  the  details  of  its  manage 
ment,  making  inspection  trips,  stopping  at  all  stations, 
as  an  entry  in  his  journal  recorded.  In  1907  some  of  the 
responsibilities  of  financial  management  were  lifted  from 
him  by  Senator  Elkins  and  his  brother,  Thomas  B.  Davis, 
but  he  continued  his  general  supervision  of  the  line.  In 
May,  1908,  he  jotted  down  in  his  journal:  "I  have  been 
for  two  or  three  months  looking  closely  to  the  manage 
ment  of  Coal  and  Coke  Railway,  and  have  reduced  ex 
penses  $5,000  per  month,  $60,000  per  year." 

There  was  a  period  of  several  years  in  which  the  coal 
and  coke  trade  of  the  whole  region  was  dull,  and  he 


I94  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

notes  these  periods  quite  methodically,  reciting  also 
sometimes  that  the  gross  earnings  were  small,  although 
usually  entries  of  this  kind  are  supplemented  with  the 
statement  that  the  net  earnings  are  improving.  During 
this  period  he  made  several  trips  to  Baltimore  and  Phila 
delphia  to  confer  with  the  managers  of  other  railways 
regarding  new  lines  or  extensions  that  would  interweave 
the  different  systems  and  increase  the  traffic  of  all  of 
them.  He  was  very  insistent  on  the  other  lines  giving 
his  road  fair  treatment  in  the  matter  of  the  traffic  that 
it  turned  over  to  them. 

In  the  meantime  his  horseback  excursions  were  con 
tinued.  In  June,  1910,  he  notes  in  his  journal  a  horse 
back  ride  to  West  Elkins,  when  the  river  was  unusually 
high  and  backwater  "say  three  feet,"  which  apparently 
did  not  interfere  with  his  continuing  his  exercise.  Dif 
ficulties  with  employees  over  wages  sometimes  arose,  but 
they  usually  were  settled  by  conciliation.  On  one  or  two 
occasions  he  took  the  trainmen  into  his  confidence,  and 
told  them  how  he  had  put  his  money  into  the  railway 
and  how  he  had  carried  it  through  dull  times,  when  the 
earnings  were  lean,  because  he  was  unwilling  to  reduce 
their  wages.  The  discovery  of  oil  at  one  point  is  noted 
in  April,  1912,  by  the  brief  statement,  "Quite  an  oil-field 
recently  come  at  Blue  Creek  on  our  road." 

Responsibility  for  the  active  management  of  the  rail 
way  was  relinquished  by  Mr.  Davis  late  in  1912.  He 
records  it  briefly : 

On  November  23,  at  a  meeting  of  directors  held  at  our  Wash 
ington  office,  we  elected  Hon.  R.  C.  Kerens  first  vice-president 
Coal  and  Coke  Railway.  Our  railway  and  coal  company  doing 
fairly  well.  Coal  and  coke  each  in  good  demand  at  increased 
price.  Car  supply  short.  I  was  eighty-nine  November  16; 
health  good  for  age. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  195 

'In  the  following  year  there  were  several  entries  in  his 
journal  showing  that  the  railroad  was  doing  "fairly 
well"  and  that  coal  and  coke  were  in  good  demand  at 
advanced  prices.  In  1914  the  state  of  the  coal  and  coke 
business  and  of  the  railway  traffic  was  indicated  usually 
as  good,  although  in  some  months  the  trade  was  dull  and 
the  road  was  doing  "only  tolerably."  The  following 
year  the  entries  were  similar  with  dull  business,  followed 
later  by  improving  business;  and  a  month  before  his 
death,  that  is,  in  February,  1916,  an  entry  was  made  re 
citing  that  the  railway  and  coal  mines  were  doing  fairly 
well.  Thus  he  never  lost  his  interest  in  the  enterprise 
that  he  had  created. 

The  larger  activities  involved  in  building  the  Coal  and 
Coke  Railway  included  minor  ones  incidental  to  it. 
There  were  local  development  enterprises  to  be  organ 
ized,  coal  and  timber  properties  to  be  refinanced.  Much 
travel  was  involved  in  this  work.  There  were  numerous 
trips  to  New  York,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia,  as  well 
as  over  the  route  of  the  railway  line.  Mr.  Davis's  travel 
was  as  incessant  at  this  period  as  it  had  been  a  quarter 
of  a  century  earlier  when  he  was  building  the  West  Vir 
ginia  Central  Railway. 

Besides  the  railway  and  collateral  enterprises  there 
were  other  investments  of  a  personal  character  to  be 
looked  after  and  fiduciary  obligations  to  be  discharged. 
There  were  the  responsibilities  of  the  banker  to  be  ful 
filled  by  giving  that  close  personal  attention  which  in 
sured  that  conservatism  in  handling  the  money  of  other 
people  was  observed.  In  all  these  activities  the  rail 
way  builder  and  the  man  of  business  showed  that  the 
qualities  that  had  been  preeminent  in  middle  age  were 
not  lacking  at  fourscore  and  beyond. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

WEST   VIRGINIA 

Commemorating  the  half  century  of  a  war-born  State — Recog 
nition  of  Henry  G.  Davis's  part  in  upbuilding  the  commonwealth 
— His  early  exposition  of  its  resources — President  of  Board  of 
Trade — Tributes  to  him  as  a  pioneer  in  development — Head  of 
Bankers'  Association — Service  on  Tax  Commission — Memories 
of  epochal  events — Speech  on  anniversary  of  first  Battle  of 
Philippi — Semi-Centennial  celebration  at  Wheeling — Mr.  Davis's 
modest  account  of  his  own  work — Golden  Jubilee  Honors  for  the 
Grand  Old  Man — His  review  of  the  moral  and  material  progress 
of  West  Virginia — Promises  of  the  future — Poetic  interpretation 
of  achievement  and  aspiration. 

THE  Semi-Centennial  of  West  Virginia's  State 
hood  was  celebrated  at  Wheeling  in  June,  1913. 
It  commemorated  fifty  years'  growth  of  a  State 
born  in  the  stress  of  civil  war  and  cradled  in  blood  and 
battle.     Few  of  those  who  had  molded  the  young  com 
monwealth,  carried  it  through  the  earlier  period  of  civic 
development  and  social  and  institutional  progress,  awak 
ened  its  sleeping  resources  and  guided  their  transforma 
tion  into  a  brilliant  chapter  of  material  prosperity,  sur 
vived.     Among  the  few  was  Henry  G.  Davis. 

In  whatever  related  to  the  evolution  of  the  State, 
civic,  social,  and  industrial,  he  had  borne  a  strong  man's 
part.  After  the  lapse  of  half  a  century  he  was  still  a 
vigorous  exponent  of  all  that  was  best  in  the  common 
wealth,  and  was  addressing  himself  to  its  welfare  with 
undiminished  activity.  It  was,  therefore,  both  fitting 

196 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  197 

and  natural  that  when  the  Semi-Centennial  Commission 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Glasscock,  Mr.  Davis  should 
be  selected  as  chairman.  He  was  the  incarnation  of 
West  Virginia,  of  her  early  hopes  and  aspirations  and 
of  their  realization. 

His  appointment  met  with  universal  approval.  It 
also  served  to  recall  the  part  he  had  had  in  building  the 
commonwealth.  Much  of  this  is  given  in  the  chapters 
relating  to  his  railway  and  other  enterprises  and  to  his 
public  life.  Some  of  these  events  may  again  be  briefly 
reviewed,  with  a  word  about  the  activities  that  extended 
beyond  the  semi-centennial  celebration  even  to  the  day 
of  his  death.  As  early  as  1868  he  had  served,  by  ap 
pointment  of  Governor  Stevenson,  as  a  delegate  to  the 
National  Commercial  Convention  that  met  at  Louisville. 

During  his  two  terms  in  the  United  States  Senate  his 
labors  in  behalf  of  West  Virginia  were  unceasing.  He 
secured  the  first  appropriation  for  river  and  harbor  im 
provements  by  means  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha 
Canal,  and  he  obtained  recognition  of  the  justness  of 
these  improvements  which  resulted  in  subsequent  meas 
ures. 

The  resources  of  the  State,  both  agricultural  and  min 
eral,  were  the  study  of  his  lifetime  and  formed  one  of 
his  favorite  themes.  He  never  neglected  the  opportunity 
to  make  them  known.  In  his  best  known  address  on 
agriculture  in  the  United  States  Senate,  as  far  back  as 
1879,  he  had  wandered  from  the  general  subject  to  give 
special  information  about  the  resources  of  West  Vir 
ginia,  her  soil,  her  timber,  coal,  and  petroleum.  It  was 
especially  the  mineral  resources  that  he  described,  and 
speaking  on  this  subject  he  said: 

"They  are  largely  undeveloped  as  yet,  the  greater  part 
of  them  lying  dormant;  but  when  the  treasures  of  this 


198  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

mountain  State  are  unearthed,  as  they  must  be  in  time, 
they  will  astonish  the  world.  In  minerals  such  as  coal, 
iron,  and  salt,  West  Virginia  stands  unrivaled  with  the 
one  exception  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  production  of 
oil,  which  has  become  one  of  our  largest  industries  and 
one  of  our  most  productive  sources  of  national  revenue, 
West  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  are  entitled  to  all  the 
credit.  The  coal-fields  of  West  Virginia  are  beyond 
question  the  most  remarkable  in  the  world.  The  timber 
of  our  State  is  probably  as  good  in  quality  and  large  in 
amount  as  that  of  any  State  in  the  Union." 

Talks  of  this  kind  helped  to  awaken  the  people  of  the 
State  to  the  natural  wealth  of  which  they  were  the  heirs ; 
it  also  drew  the  attention  of  capitalists  and  encouraged 
the  development  of  the  resources  by  the  construction  of 
railway  lines  and  the  opening  of  the  coal-mines.  It  was 
through  the  efforts  of  Senator  Davis  that  the  first  ap 
propriation  for  a  geological  survey  of  West  Virginia 
was  obtained,  and  this  survey  more  than  justified  all 
that  he  had  said  about  the  mineral  wealth. 

When  West  Virginia  began  to  take  systematic  meas 
ures  to  attract  immigration  and  capital,  Mr.  Davis  was 
foremost  in  the  movement.  He  was  not  afraid  of  being 
called  a  boomer.  In  February,  1888,  he  was  a  member 
of  the  convention  that  met  at  Wheeling  to  adopt  meas 
ures  for  advancing  the  interests  of  the  State.  A  few 
weeks  earlier  he  had  written  a  letter  outlining  the  steps 
that  should  be  taken  to  insure  developing  the  still  latent 
resources.  When  the  convention  met  he  made  a  speech 
on  the  same  subject,  and,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Immigration  and  Development,  he  submitted  a  re 
port,  which  was  adopted,  providing  for  the  organization 
of  the  West  Virginia  Immigration  and  Development 
Association. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  199 

Years  afterward  the  efforts  to  give  organized  expres 
sion  to  the  business  interests  of  the  State  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  State  Board  of  Trade.  He  was  one 
of  the  active  men  in  its  formation  in  1905,  and  there 
after  he  rarely  failed  to  be  present  at  the  annual  meet 
ing.  In  1906  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Board. 
He  was  then  eighty-three  years  old.  In  February,  1907, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  at  Wheeling,  Mr.  Davis  re 
ceived  many  proofs  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
as  a  commonwealth  builder.  Commenting  on  his  pres 
ence,  the  Wheeling  Intelligencer  said : 

Wheeling  is  always  glad  to  extend  a  cordial  welcome  to  Hon. 
Henry  G.  Davis,  and  in  this  particular  Wheeling  is  not  different 
from  any  other  West  Virginia  town. 

Henry  G.  Davis  was  a  pioneer  in  the  development  of  West 
Virginia.  Over  fifty  years  ago  he  began  to  show  his  faith  in 
the  future  of  West  Virginia,  and  year  after  year  he  has  given 
the  strength  of  an  acute  mind  and  vigorous  body  to  the  upbuild 
ing  of  the  State.  He  has  won  wealth,  fame,  and  honor.  His 
gray  hairs  have  been  richly  crowned  with  the  laurels  of  honorable 
achievement;  but,  though  his  years  have  passed  the  limits  of 
active  life  allotted  to  most  men,  he  is  still  planning,  still  thinking, 
and  still  doing  those  things  which  in  a  broad  sense  make  for  the 
betterment  of  mankind. 

The  Wheeling  Register  in  its  tribute  said : 

Hale  and  hearty,  vigorous  in  mind  and  limb,  despite  his  more 
than  fourscore  years,  Henry  G.  Davis  was  himself  even  more 
interesting  than  the  admirable  address  which  he  delivered  at  the 
annual  banquet  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  The  speech  he  delivered 
showed  a  grasp  of  current  affairs  not  less  noteworthy  than  his 
familiarity  with  the  early  history  of  this  city  and  State. 

When  the  State  Board  met  at  Huntington,  in  October, 
1909,  Mr.  Davis  delivered  one  of  the  principal  addresses, 
and  in  it  he  reviewed  at  length  the  resources  of  the  com- 


200  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

monwealth  and  the  measures  taken  for  its  development, 
with  especial  reference  to  the  importance  of  railways  as 
the  means  of  such  development.  Speaking  of  the  evolu 
tion  into  industrial  communities,  he  said  : 

When  the  State  began  its  career  there  were  but  few  towns  of 
any  size,  nearly  the  entire  population  being  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  There  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  incor 
porated  villages,  towns,  and  cities,  with  a  score  or  more  containing 
over  five  thousand  people.  The  new  ones  are  to  be  found  along 
the  railroads  and  principally  where  the  mining  industries  have 
flourished.  Not  until  there  is  utilized  within  its  borders  the 
valuable  essentials  it  contains  for  manufacturing  life  will  there 
grow  up  marts  of  trade  and  centers  of  activity  such  as  have  made 
the  neighboring  State  of  Pennsylvania  great  and  powerful.  We 
have  spent  nearly  fifty  years  in  demonstrating  to  the  world  that 
we  possess  nearly  all  the  requisites  of  commercial  greatness. 
Now  let  us  begin  the  next  half  century  with  a  determination  to 
use  the  material  we  have  to  build  our  own  house  instead  of  our 
neighbor's  across  the  way. 

As  a  lifelong  banker,  Mr.  Davis  took  great  interest  in 
every  movement  that  brought  the  bankers  of  the  State 
together.  He  rarely  failed  to  attend  the  annual  meet 
ing  of  the  State  Bankers'  Association,  and  usually  made 
one  of  his  short,  pointed  speeches  filled  with  statistics, 
but  statistics  that  were  pertinent  and  illuminating.  He 
served  as  president  of  the  State  Bankers'  Association  one 
year.  The  annual  convention  in  the  summer  of  1913 
was  held  at  Elkins,  and  was  attended  by  prominent  finan 
ciers  from  beyond  the  State.  One  of  these  was  United 
States  Treasurer  Burke,  and  another  former  Governor 
Edwin  Warfield  of  Baltimore.  Mr.  Davis  was  then  in 
his  ninetieth  year,  but  in  his  address  he  showed  his  in 
terest  in  finance  as  clear  as  at  any  time  during  his  active 
business  life. 

A  typewritten  outline  of  his  address  to  the  bankers  is 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  201 

prefaced  with  this  comment  in  his  own  handwriting: 
"My  remarks  brief;  a  talk,  not  a  speech."  The  talk  ran 
through  an  historic  review  of  banks,  from  the  Venice 
Bank  in  1171  to  the  organization  of  the  first  United 
States  Bank,  and  then  to  the  banks  in  the  United  States, 
their  resources,  their  capital,  and  their  circulation. 
From  this  general  review  it  was  a  natural  transition  to 
the  growth  of  West  Virginia  banks  and  their  functions 
in  developing  the  State. 

Identification  with  the  economic  and  the  public  life  of 
West  Virginia  and  the  large  part  he  bore  in  the  indus 
trial  development  naturally  caused  Mr.  Davis  to  take 
a  live  interest  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  State.  Because 
of  his  knowledge  of  these  subjects  and  of  his  sound  judg 
ment  in  whatever  related  to  them,  he  was  looked  to  when 
the  Legislature,  in  1901,  passed  an  act  creating  a  Com 
mission  of  five  members  to  consider  the  subject  of  taxa 
tion,  as  one  of  the  best  fitted  of  all  the  citizens  of  the 
State  to  serve  on  the  Commission.  Governor  A.  B. 
White  recognized  this,  and  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Davis  said : 

I  respectfully  write  to  know  whether  you  would  consent  to  serve 
the  State  in  this  capacity  and  give  the  Commission  the  benefit  of 
your  valuable  experience  and  thought  on  these  matters.  It 
would  be  very  highly  appreciated  if  you  would,  and  I  am  sincerely 
desirous  that  you  serve  on  this  Commission.  .  .  .  The  purpose  is 
to  consider  the  whole  subject  of  taxation  with  reference  to  secur 
ing  some  reform  legislation  on  these  matters.  I  trust  you  can  see 
your  way  clear  to  give  the  State  the  benefit  of  your  services  for 
which  your  long  business  experience  has  so  eminently  fitted  you. 

Mr.  Davis  accepted  the  appointment  thus  proffered 
him,  and  he  also  appreciated  the  compliment  conveyed, 
since  the  State  administration  was  Republican.  The 
Commission  as  ultimately  organized  consisted  of  former 
Governor  W.  P.  Hubbard  of  Wheeling,  Henry  G.  Davis 


202  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  Elkins,  L.  J.  Williams  of  Lewisburg,  John  H.  Holt 
of  Huntington,  and  John  K.  Thompson  of  Raymond 
City.  Mr.  Holt  had  been  the  Democratic  opponent  of 
Governor  White  in  the  State  campaign. 

The  Commission,  after  carefully  considering  the  de 
fects  in  the  system  of  taxation,  determined  to  devise  a 
plan  by  which  the  expenses  of  the  State  government 
would  be  paid  by  taxes  upon  corporations,  charters, 
licenses,  capitation,  etc.,  leaving  the  taxes  collected  from 
real  and  personal  property  to  pay  the  county  and  munici 
pal  expenses.  To  Mr.  Davis  was  assigned  the  subject 
of  the  State  revenues  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
should  be  collected  and  disbursed.  While  serving  on  this 
body  he  also  attended,  as  one  of  the  delegates  of  West 
Virginia,  the  National  Conference  on  Taxation,  which 
met  at  Buffalo.  He  gave  much  of  his  time  to  the  work 
of  the  Commission,  and  helped  to  formulate  the  prelim 
inary  report,  which  was  submitted  in  December,  1901. 
The  final  report  was  submitted  in  October,  1902,  and 
was  signed  by  Mr.  Davis  along  with  the  other  members. 
Many  of  its  suggestions  and  recommendations  bore  the 
stamp  of  his  personality. 

Many  chapters  might  be  written  of  Mr.  Davis's  part 
in  the  fiscal  history  of  the  State,  but  they  would  be 
merely  the  cumulative  recital  of  a  deep  knowledge  of 
the  economic  resources  and  of  the  relation  of  taxation 
to  their  development  and  to  the  application  to  the  ad 
ministrative  affairs  of  the  State. 

The  subject  of  West  Virginia  recurs  to  the  Semi-Cen- 
tennial  celebration  and  the  part  of  Mr.  Davis  in  it. 

Before  the  actual  semi-centennial  celebration  there 
had  been  a  half-century  observance  of  the  first  battle 
that  was  fought  within  the  borders  of  the  new  common 
wealth.  This  anniversary  was  celebrated  at  Philippi 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  203 

in  June,  191 1.  Speaking  on  that  occasion,  Mr.  Davis  re 
called  the  thrilling  days  of  half  a  century  past,  and  the 
principles  for  which  men  then  fought.  He  also  reviewed 
the  creation  of  the  new  State.  On  this  point  he  said: 

"Many  good  people  thought  the  act  of  creating  West 
Virginia  out  of  a  part  of  Virginia  was  harsh  and  illegal. 
Previous  to  the  war  there  was  a  feeling  of  discontent 
among  the  people  of  what  is  now  West  Virginia.  They 
felt  that  they  were  not  being  treated  fairly  in  legislation, 
and  were  compelled  to  pay  heavy  taxes  on  account  of 
internal  and  other  improvements  in  what  is  now  Vir 
ginia,  while  but  a  small  part  of  the  money  so  raised  was 
expended  in  the  part  which  is  now  West  Virginia.  As 
it  was  also  opposed  to  secession,  bordering  largely  on  the 
free  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  it  was  ready  for 
the  separation  which  came.  There  seems  to  be  some 
thing  not  altogether  inappropriate  or  illogical  in  the  fact 
that  the  first  battle  of  the  Rebellion  occurred  in  the  only 
State  that  was  created  by  that  conflict. 

"Virginia  is  the  only  State  that  lost  part  of  its  terri 
tory  in  the  Civil  War.  In  the  days  of  the  Revolution 
it  did  more  for  our  independence  and  liberty  than  any 
other  State  in  the  Union.  It  gave  the  country  Washing 
ton,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Henry,  Marshall,  and  other 
great  men.  The  State  of  West  Virginia  honors  the  old 
State,  and  will  always  look  upon  her  with  the  pride  and 
affection  of  a  devoted  daughter. 

"A  half  century  has  elapsed  since  these  beautiful  hills 
and  valleys  were  occupied  by  hostile  forces.  Long  since 
have  the  sounds  of  cannon  ceased  and  the  wounds  of 
conflict  healed.  Soon,  in  the  progress  of  time,  as  the 
participants  in  these  scenes  pass  away,  the  dark  days  of 
1 86 1  will  become  hallowed  in  memory,  and  their  story 
softened  by  romance  and  legend.  It  is  sufficient  for 


204  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

those  of  us  who  can  remember  them  to  know  that  the 
mellowing  effects  of  time  have  already  obliterated  all 
animosity  and  that  on  all  sides  peace  and  good  will  pre 
vail." 

Mr.  Davis's  part  in  preparing  for  the  Semi-Centen 
nial  celebration,  and  his  active  participation  in  it,  are 
related  in  his  journal  with  a  brevity  that  gives  no  hint  of 
the  degree  to  which  it  embodied  honors  to  him  as  the 
first  citizen  of  the  State — the  Grand  Old  Man,  as  the 
orators  and  the  newspapers  insisted  on  calling  him. 
These  are  the  entries  in  the  jo'-imal : 

November  4,  1911.  The  West  Virginia  Semi-Centennial  Com 
mission  appointed  by  Governor  Glasscock  met  at  Waldo  Hotel, 
Clarksburg.  Eleven  of  the  fourteen  commissioners  attended. 
Governor  Glasscock  presided.  Wheeling  and  Charleston  ask 
for  the  celebration  to  be  at  their  town ;  Wheeling  selected  by  a  vote 
of  eight  to  two. 

I  presented  a  program  of  the  intended  celebration  which,  with 
a  few  amendments,  was  adopted.  I  was  unanimously  elected  per 
manent  chairman  of  the  Commission,  Secretary  of  State  Reed 
vice-chairman,  with  the  full  understanding  Reed  was  to  do  nearly 
all  the  work  that  naturally  devolved  on  chairman. 

May  29,  1913.  Returned  last  evening  from  Wheeling,  attend 
ing  Semi-Centennial  Commission  meeting.  I  am  chairman,  which 
is  giving  me  considerable  work. 

June  20.  Went  to  Wheeling  i8th  to  attend  Semi-Centennial. 
Great  crowd  expected  2Oth,  Statewide  Day.  Parade,  State,  na 
tional  troops,  cadets  from  State  University,  arch  on  streets,  great 
display  of  flags.  I  presided  at  the  great  meeting  and  made  half 
hour  speech. 

This  account  is  the  essence  of  modesty.  The  historian 
of  the  future  would  have  to  seek  other  sources  to  obtain 
a  correct  idea  of  what  the  celebration  meant  as  a  tribute 
to  Henry  G.  Davis.  They  are  found  in  the  newspapers, 
in  the  official  publications,  and  in  the  contemporary  story 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  205 

of  the  Semi-Centennial  as  given  in  permanent  form  in 
the  volumes  published  at  the  time.  A  program  of  the 
ceremonies  was  published  in  which  the  title  page  was  an 
appreciation  of  Mr.  Davis,  as  seen  below : 

THE  GOLDEN  JUBILEE  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA 

1863-1913 
To  THE  HON.  HENRY  G.  DAVIS  OF  ELKINS 

WEST  VIRGINIA'S  "GRAND  OLD  MAN" 

A  prime  factor  in  the  development  and  progress  of  the  State  and  the  up 
lift  of   its   people,   these   pages   are   respectfully 
and  appreciatively  inscribed. 

The  newspapers  in  their  special  issues  were  full  of 
appreciative  tributes.  In  one  of  them  by  Roy  B.  Naylor, 
Secretary  of  the  West  Virginia  Board  of  Trade,  was 
this  eulogy: 

He  came  to  what  was  then  western  Virginia  as  a  young  man 
with  no  capital  save  a  clean  heart,  a  clear  brain,  and  a  strong  right 
arm.  .  .  .  To-day,  in  his  ninetieth  year,  his  face  set  towards  the 
future  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  man  of  thirty,  well  has  he  earned 
the  title  that  fits  him  best,  West  Virginia's  Grand  Old  Man,  and 
justly  is  he  regarded  as  one  of  the  remarkable  men  of  our  times. 
In  him  we  have  the  ideal  citizen,  vitally  interested  in  all  the  activ 
ities  of  his  State,  a  creator  of  wealth,  a  doer  of  good  deeds,  a 
Christian  gentleman.  With  all  the  success  that  has  come  to  him 
in  every  walk  of  life,  he  remains,  as  always,  kindly,  courteous, 
and  unspoiled,  with  the  mind  of  a  master  builder  and  the  heart  of 
a  little  child. 

Another  tribute,  in  verse,  by  Ignatius  Brennan  gave 
prominence  to  this  thought : 

He  looms  as  a  connecting-link  of  time — 

A  link  that  starts  when  our  domain  was  young, 

Then  stretches  'cross  the  cycle,  so  sublime, 
And  joins  all  with  a  clime  of  every  tongue. 


206  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Before  the  locomotive  raced  the  rail ; 
Before  the  harnessed-lightning  pierced  the  vale ; 
Before  a  thousand  things  of  wondrous  make — 
He  lived,  and  gave  his  being  for  their  sake. 

In  the  several  addresses  made  during  the  celebration 
there  were  summaries  of  the  moral,  the  material,  and  the 
civic  progress  of  West  Virginia  in  its  fifty  years  of 
Statehood.  The  chief  address  on  Statewide  Day,  June 
20,  was  made  by  Mr.  Davis  himself,  and  in  this  speech  he 
described  both  the  moral  and  the  material  progress  of 
the  commonwealth.  Among  other  things  Mr.  Davis 
said: 

"The  men  whose  faith  and  strength  of  purpose  car 
ried  them  forward  to  the  formation  of  the  State  in  times 
of  great  doubt  and  foreboding  are  those  to  whom  we 
now  pay  honor.  We  come  not  so  much  to  recount  our 
achievements  and  to  enjoy  the  sense  of  satisfaction  they 
impart  as  to  do  deference  to  those  who  made  possible 
the  occasion  of  our  pride.  They  builded  better  than  they 
knew  by  bringing  into  being  a  State  which,  unlike  them 
selves,  lives  on,  and  gathers  strength  as  the  years  mul 
tiply,  and  yet  while  they  live  has  grown  greater  than 
they  anticipated,  richer  than  they  prophesied,  stronger 
than  they  imagined,  and  more  than  fulfilled  their  bright 
est  hopes. 

"The  physical  features  and  natural  riches  of  West 
Virginia  have  always  been  attractive  and  elusive.  .  .  . 
The  peaks  and  pinnacles  and  terraced  mountainsides  di 
vide  and  distribute  her  waters  with  impartial  favor. 
They  give  birth  to  the  Potomac,  which  broadens  into 
service  for  the  capital  of  the  nation,  and  mingle  in  the 
Chesapeake  with  those  which  have  gone  down  through 
the  historic  James;  to  the  north  by  the  Cheat  and  Mo- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  207 

nongahela  they  reach  at  Pittsburgh  the  Ohio,  and  soon 
join  with  the  waters  from  the  southwest  of  the  Little 
Kanawha.  Nature  has  furnished  the  lines  of  a  great 
portion  of  the  boundaries  of  the  State  in  mountains 
and  streams,  the  Ohio  River  alone  serving  her  well  for 
nearly  three  hundred  miles  along  her  border.  The  peo 
ple  of  the  State  have  inherited  from  its  rugged  nature  a 
spirit  of  freedom  and  self-reliance.  They  have  cared 
rather  for  the  independence  of  its  hills  and  valleys  than 
the  interdependence  of  cities  and  towns. 

"In  1860,  about  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  State, 
the  population  was  376,000,  or  about  fifteen  persons  to 
each  square  mile.  In  1870  it  had  grown  to  420,000,  and 
in  1910  it  reached  1,221,000,  or  an  average  of  fifty  per 
sons  to  each  square  mile.  It  had  a  little  more  than 
three  times  the  population  of  fifty  years  ago." 

After  reviewing  the  agricultural  and  mineral  wealth 
of  the  State  and  the  manufactures,  Mr.  Davis  closed  his 
half-hour  speech  with  this  sentiment : 

"Statistics  of  great  variety  could  be  produced  to  show 
the  health  and  prosperity  of  West  Virginia,  her  present 
high  position,  her  rapid  advance  in  all  the  material  and 
moral  affairs  of  life,  the  happiness  and  ambitions  of  her 
people ;  but  facts  are  for  moments  of  greater  care.  To 
day  we  put  aside  the  sterner  realities  of  life  and  lend 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  to  the  spirit  of  the  occasion. 
We  join  with  our  neighbors  and  friends  in  making 
merry,  that  we  can  with  light  hearts  and  cheerful  mien 
fittingly  observe  the  day  we  celebrate.  The  State  was 
born  in  sentiment,  and  in  sentiment  let  us  remember 
its  birth.  In  our  felicitations  on  West  Virginia's  fiftieth 
birthday,  an  occasion  fraught  with  pride  in  the  accom 
plishments  of  the  past,  let  us  take  advantage  of  the 


208  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

golden  opportunity  and  inaugurate  to  higher  hopes  and 
greater  aims  the  second  half  century  of  the  State's  his 
tory." 

At  night  there  was  a  banquet,  which,  notwithstanding 
the  fatigues  of  the  day,  Mr.  Davis  attended.  He  made 
a  brief  speech  expressing  appreciation  for  the  coopera 
tion  of  Wheeling  in  the  preparation  and  management  of 
the  celebration.  No  one  who  listened  to  him  on  that 
occasion  could  realize  that  he  was  in  his  ninetieth  year. 
He  had  all  the  energy  and  interest  in  his  surroundings 
of  a  man  of  fifty. 

Among  all  the  tributes  to  West  Virginia  and  to  the 
men  who  had  builded  the  new  commonwealth,  morally 
and  materially,  who  had  molded  its  civic  development 
and  laid  the  foundation  for  its  educational  institutions, 
none  reflected  more  truly  the  part  which  Henry  G.  Davis 
had  taken  than  that  by  Herbert  Putnam  in  his  poem, 
"West  Virginia/'  which  was  one  of  the  features  of  the 
celebration.  These  verses  of  Mr.  Putnam's  in  particular 
reflect  the  achievements  and  the  aspirations  of  Mr. 
Davis : 

To-day  we  celebrate 
The  ripe  achievements  of  our  fifty  years : — 

The  mastery 

Of  forest,  field,  and  mine,  the  mill  which  rears 
Its  bulk  o'er  many  a  stream,  the  forge  and  factory's 

Incessant  hum, 

The  railways  linking  mart  to  mart  and  home  to  home, 
The  growth  of  trade  in  each  emporium, 
And  other  wealth  material  that  has  come 

To  bless 

Our  subjugation  of  a  wilderness, 
And  mien  undaunted  in  a  time  of  stress : — 

All  these  we  proudly  sum. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  209 

The  pride  is  just ;  but  let  it  not  ignore 

Our  progress  in  the  things  that  count  for  more 

In  strengthening  a  State 

Than  wealth  material  won. 

Let  it  relate  what  we  have  done 
To  further  Education,  and  promote 
An  understanding  near  of  things  remote. 

What  may  we  claim 
Of  those  fine  civic  traits  which  earn  the  name 

Of  a  great  commonwealth, 
And  are  the  tokens  of  sound  civic  health  ? 
Respect  for  law,  to  each  his  equal  chance, 

For  variant  opinion,  tolerance; 

Yet  in  the  issues  real 

That  touch  the  common  weal 
Conscience  implacable,  that  alike  defies 
The  bribe,  the  threat,  or  coward  compromise. 

The  more  than  fourscore  years  and  ten  of  Mr.  Davis's 
life  prevented  one  tribute  which  West  Virginia  undoubt 
edly  would  have  delighted  to  pay  him  as  one  of  her  fore 
most  sons.  This  was  a  place  in  the  Hall  of  Statuary  in 
the  Capitol  at  Washington.  During  his  lifetime  the  two 
niches  that  are  reserved  for  each  State  were  filled  by  the 
statues  of  other  citizens.  It  therefore  remains  for  the 
State  he  loved  so  well  to  find  some  other  means  of  show 
ing  her  appreciation,  perhaps  by  a  statue  at  the  Capitol 
in  Charleston. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

BENEFACTIONS   AND    PHILANTHROPIES 

The  habit  of  giving — Interest  in  free  schools — Sentiment  in 
spired  by  higher  education — Permanent  endowment  for  Davis 
and  Elkins  College — Contributions  to  religious  objects — A  home 
missionary's  illuminating  letter — Filial  sentiment  given  expres 
sion  in  church  edifice — Family  affection  exemplified  in  a  Memo 
rial  hospital — Failure  of  plans  for  girls'  industrial  school — Reali 
zation  of  similar  idea  in  Child's  Shelter — Mr.  Davis's  deep  per 
sonal  interest  in  the  homeless  little  ones — Belief  in  organized 
Christianity — Substantial  support  of  Young  Men's  Christian  As 
sociation — Eulogy  of  its  methods. 

THE  pages  that  form  this  record  might  be  called  a 
chapter  in  practical  philanthropy. 
The  habit  of  giving  was  with  Mr.  Davis  a 
lifelong  one,  and  the  gifts  in  the  earlier  years  were  not 
always  out  of  abundance.  It  was  his  practice  to  devote 
some  part  of  his  income  to  worthy  purposes,  religious, 
educational,  and  philanthropic.  As  his  means  increased 
he  was  able  to  make  more  ample  provision,  but  it  was 
never  done  indiscriminately.  Professional  charity- 
seekers  found  that  when  his  aid  was  sought  they  must 
be  able  to  show  a  reason  for  it,  and  also  they  must  be 
able  to  make  a  satisfactory  accounting.  The  careful 
business  habits  that  found  application  in  his  private  af 
fairs  were  applied  to  benevolent  purposes,  and  demoral 
izing  and  pauperizing  effects  of  indiscriminate  giving 
received  no  encouragement  from  him. 

As  his  fortune  grew  he  was  able  to  make  permanent 

2IO 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  211 

provision  for  several  objects  that  appealed  most  deeply 
to  him  and  awakened  sentiments  that  rarely  found  ex 
pression  in  words.  He  did  not  believe  in  waiting  until 
after  death  for  his  purposes  to  be  realized,  but  rather 
preferred  to  lay  the  foundation  himself  and  to  contribute 
toward  the  current  obligations,  while  at  the  same  time 
making  provision  through  endowment  for  carrying  on 
the  objects  that  had  enlisted  his  sympathy.  The  prin 
cipal  ones  were  found  recorded  in  his  will,  which  pro 
vided  endowments  for  them. 

No  subject  appealed  to  Mr.  Davis  with  greater  force 
than  that  of  education.  The  circumstances  that  had  de 
nied  him  the  opportunities  for  schooling  left  a  deep  im 
press  on  him,  and,  in  the  numerous  appeals  that  came  to 
him  for  aid,  a  school  in  some  remote  section  where  the 
State  agencies  were  difficult  to  be  invoked  seldom  failed 
to  obtain  a  response.  Among  his  papers  a  letter  here 
and  there  from  some  out-of-the-way  corner  conveying 
thanks  for  aid  extended  is  the  only  record  of  some  of  his 
quiet  benefactions.  Here,  for  example,  is  one  received 
from  a  hamlet  in  West  Virginia  a  few  months  before  his 
death,  in  which  the  writer  says : 

I  received  your  check  and  letter  last  evening.  Words  fail  to 
express  my  appreciation  of  the  contribution  you  have  made,  but 
I  say  thank  you  with  all  my  heart.  Only  God  can  reward  such 
liberality  to  our  country  schools. 

The  sentiment  that  drew  him  to  the  communities  in 
which  he  had  lived  found  expression  in  an  entry  in  his 
journal  relating  to  Piedmont : 

January  8,  1886.  I  have  bought  ground  on  which  old  Presby 
terian  Church  stood.  My  intention  is  to  build  a  free  school  build 
ing,  to  cost  about  $10,000,  to  be  given  to  Piedmont  as  a  high 
school ;  hope  to  commence  the  building  this  year. 


212  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Five  years  later  a  brief  entry  refers  to  a  newspaper 
clipping  in  which  is  recited  the  set  of  resolutions  adopted 
by  the  Board  of  Education  of  Piedmont  accepting  the 
deed  of  the  school  property  and  expressing  the  thanks 
of  the  Board  and  the  citizens  of  Piedmont  for  the  gift. 
This  was  the  Davis  free  school. 

When  he  was  building  railways  and  opening  to  settle 
ment  towns  and  villages,  these  grew  faster  than  provision 
could  be  made  under  the  school  laws,  and  consequently 
he  met  the  need  of  schooling  in  his  usual  practical  way. 
At  Henry,  a  mining  town  on  the  West  Virginia  Central 
Railroad,  he  built  and  gave  to  the  people  a  brick  school- 
house,  and  at  Davis  he  provided  the  larger  part  of  the 
expense  for  a  school  building.  When  he  was  construct 
ing  the  Coal  and  Coke  Railway,  and  the  new  town  of 
Gassaway  sprang  up,  one  of  his  first  activities  was  to 
provide  a  schoolhouse.  These  cases  illustrate  in  a  quiet 
way  his  belief  in  the  common  schools,  and  his  desire  that 
the  children  of  the  people  in  the  communities  that  de 
veloped  from  his  mining  and  railway  enterprises  should 
be  assured  of  educational  privileges. 

Higher  education  inspired  Mr.  Davis  with  the  same 
sentiment  that  common-school  education  inspired. 
After  the  town  of  Elkins  had  been  established  the  Col 
lege  Board  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church  decided 
that  this  was  an  eligible  place  for  a  denominational  in 
stitution  of  learning  under  the  control  of  the  Lexington 
Presbytery.  They  found  Mr.  Davis  very  sympathetic 
to  the  idea,  and  ready  to  provide  for  a  substantial  insti 
tution.  Senator  Elkins  also  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
plan  and  bore  half  the  expense. 

The  two  men  gave  the  site  for  the  campus,  thirty 
acres,  helped  to  make  provision  for  the  buildings,  and 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  213 

contributed  to  the  running  expenses.  In  this  manner 
Davis  and  Elkins  College  was  established.  The  only 
condition  made  by  Mr.  Davis  and  Senator  Elkins  was 
that  the  Church  should  raise  a  like  amount  to  the  sum 
contributed  by  them.  Mr.  Davis  also  built  a  home  for 
the  president  of  the  College. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  principal  building  was  laid  in 
August,  1903,  and  in  a  few  months  the  college  itself  was 
opened.  From  the  beginning,  Mr.  Davis  was  its  prin 
cipal  supporter.  In  1911  he  supplemented  his  previous 
gifts  by  an  endowment  of  $100,000,  conditioned  on  the 
college  obtaining  a  similar  sum.  In  his  will  the  endow 
ment  was  provided  as  a  fund  to  be  held  perpetually  in 
trust. 

When  the  corner-stone  was  laid,  Mr.  Davis  in  a  brief 
address  declared  his  faith  in  higher  education,  especially 
Christian  education,  and  this  motive  found  expression  in 
the  inscription,  "Erected  for  the  advancement  of  Chris 
tian  education.  A.  D.,  1903." 

A  man  of  deep  religious  nature,  it  was  natural  that 
Mr.  Davis  should  be  a  liberal  contributor  to  religious 
objects,  and  in  particular  to  the  denomination  with  which 
he  was  all  his  life  identified.  But  his  benefactions  were 
not  bounded  by  denominational  or  sectarian  lines.  As  in 
the  case  of  schools,  letters  from  out-of-the-way  places, 
found  among  his  papers,  give  evidence  of  his  unostenta 
tious  gifts.  One  from  the  village  of  Granite,  Maryland, 
back  in  1880,  incloses  resolutions  of  the  church  and  con 
gregation  thanking  him  for  his  munificent  contribution. 

There  is  a  more  significant  letter  which  illustrates  his 
ideas  of  practical  Christianity.  Apparently  it  was  writ 
ten  in  response  to  a  communication  received  from  him. 
The  text  follows : 


214  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
Rev.  W.  E.  Powell,  District  Secretary,  Kanawha  District, 

916  Swan  Street, 

Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  January  n,  1898. 
Hon.  Henry  G.  Davis, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  dear  Sir  and  Brother: 

After  my  kindest  regards  to  you,  I  wish  to  say  that  the  last 
three  months  have  been  prolific  in  opportunities  of  doing  good 
with  small  sums  of  money ;  and,  following  your  advice,  I  have  been 
on  the  alert  to  help  the  worthy  needy  ones. 

I  found  a  student,  a  Christian  young  man,  who  had  but  one 
hand,  working  his  way  through  college,  in  great  need  of  books. 
Also  two  other  young  men,  who  had  both  graduated  and  are  now 
entering  the  ministry,  both  without  means,  and  in  great  need  of 
books.  I  have  bought  $84.75  worth  of  good  books  and  distributed 
among  these  worthy  young  men. 

I  found  a  little  church  which  had  built  a  nice  chapel  at  a  cost 
of  $5,000.  A  debt  of  $500  has  annoyed  them  much  for  several 
years.  They  are  making  a  heroic  effort  to  pay  off  that  debt,  and 
came  to  me  for  help,  so  I  have  promised  them  $50. 

I  found  an  old  man,  93  years  old,  a  true  Christian,  a  Democrat, 
who  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  for  over  70  years  he  has  voted  the 
Democratic  ticket.  The  old  man  was  much  troubled  by  a  debt 
of  $10.  I  paid  it  for  him,  and  he  is  happy  as  a  child  over  this 
help. 

I  found  an  aged  Minister,  seriously  afflicted,  and  unable  to  pay 
a  debt  of  only  $25.  I  paid  this  for  him,  and  some  smaller  sums 
have  gone  to  help  some  orphan  children. 

The  whole  amount  I  have  been  able  to  appropriate  by  your 
generosity  during  the  last  three  months,  is  $184.60.  These  cases 
were  so  urgent  that  I  have  advanced  nearly  all  of  this  amount 
out  of  my  own  funds. 

I  hope  you  will  not  feel  that  I  have  abused  your  kindness  by 
appropriating  the  $184.60.  If  you  could  have  heard  the  earnest 
words  of  thanks  and  seen  the  tears  of  joy  as  I  have  seen  them,  I 
know  your  own  heart  would  have  been  touched.  There  are  so 
many  of  these  cases  that  I  have  not  dared  to  attempt  to  help  but 
a  few  of  the  most  needy.  When  convenient  for  you,  I  shall  be 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  215 

glad  to  receive  your  check  for  this  amount,  $184.60.  Praying 
that  the  Lord  may  spare  you  many  years  yet  to  bless  mankind 
by  your  kindly  benefactions,  I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  E.  POWELL. 

Across  the  back  of  this  letter  is  written  in  Mr.  Davis's 
handwriting:  "Check  for  the  $184.60  sent  to  Mr. 
Powell." 

The  erection  of  church  buildings  was  something  that 
Mr.  Davis  liked  to  see  in  the  new  and  growing  communi 
ties  along  with  schoolhouses.  He  rarely  failed  to  re 
spond  to  requests  for  aid  for  this  purpose,  regardless  of 
denominational  lines.  At  Gassaway  he  erected  at  his 
own  expense  a  fine  stone  church  for  the  Presbyterians. 
At  Elkins  he  provided  the  colored  Baptists  with  a  com 
modious  frame  church.  Other  towns  that  owed  their 
existence  to  his  railway  enterprises  were  aided  in  the 
same  way. 

Filial  sentiment  found  expression  in  the  erection  at 
Elkins  of  a  memorial  church  to  his  parents.  In  1894, 
in  conjunction  with  his  brother,  Thomas  B.  Davis,  he 
determined  to  provide  a  memorial  with  the  special 
thought  of  their  mother,  who  had  died  in  July,  1868, 
after  having  lived  to  see  her  children  honored  and  re 
spected  in  the  communities  in  which  they  lived  and  well 
advanced  on  the  road  to  success  and  prosperity.  No 
monument  to  her  memory  could  have  been  more  fitting 
than  that  which  her  sons  decided  to  erect — a  church  dedi 
cated  to  the  services  to  which  she  had  been  so  much  at 
tached  during  her  life.  The  handsome  stone  building 
was  completed  and  dedicated  in  September,  1895. 

The  church  was  built  of  native  light  pink  sandstone 
quarried  near  where  it  was  erected.  Stained  Gothic 
windows  setting  forth  subjects  bearing  upon  the  life  of 


216  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Christ  light  the  body  of  the  edifice.  A  large  triple  win 
dow  in  the  front,  of  stained  glass  set  in  lead,  was  the 
gift  of  Senator  and  Mrs.  Elkins. 

In  his  journal  Mr.  Davis  tells  very  briefly  of  the  event 
that  was  so  full  of  meaning  to  him : 

September  29,  1895.  To-day  Reverend  Moses  D.  Hoge,  of 
Richmond,  dedicated  the  new  stone  church  and  Sunday-school  at 
Elkins,  donated  by  my  brother  Thomas  and  myself  to  Presbyte 
rians  in  memory  of  our  parents,  especially  mother. 

Some  newspaper  clippings  giving  an  account  of  the 
dedication  ceremonies  are  attached  to  the  journal  entry. 
Sixteen  years  later,  in  October,  1911,  the  formal  presen 
tation  of  the  church  to  the  Presbyterians  of  Elkins  was 
made  by  Mr.  Davis  as  a  part  of  special  dedicatory  serv 
ices.  In  presenting  the  deed  and  keys,  Mr.  Davis  paid 
a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  wife,  saying  the 
church  was  a  slight  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  whom 
he  loved  dearly,  and  with  whom  he  lived  happily  for 
nearly  fifty  years.  He  also  paid  a  tender  tribute  to  his 
mother,  to  whose  teachings  he  gave  the  credit  for  any 
thing  he  might  have  accomplished. 

The  deepest  family  affection  often  found  expression 
with  Mr.  Davis  in  some  form  of  practical  philanthropy. 
An  illustration  of  this  was  the  hospital  erected  at  Elkins 
as  a  memorial  to  the  eldest  son,  Henry  G.  Davis,  Jr.,  who 
was  lost  at  sea.  It  was  the  joint  tribute  of  Mrs.  Davis 
and  himself.  It  represented  their  idea  of  doing  good  in 
an  enduring  way. 

The  hospital  was  begun  in  the  winter  of  1902.  A 
handsome  building  of  stone  and  brick,  roofed  with  red 
slate,  was  constructed.  It  consists  of  a  central  octagonal 
building,  with  two  wings  so  arranged  as  to  receive  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  217 

greatest  possible  amount  of  sunlight.  The  hospital 
throughout  is  fitted  with  the  most  modern  appliances  and 
conveniences.  Mrs.  Davis  did  not  live  to  see  it  com 
pleted,  and  after  her  death  special  memorial  services 
were  held  for  her  in  the  building. 

In  his  will  Mr.  Davis  provided  a  permanent  endow 
ment  for  the  maintenance  of  the  hospital,  to  be  supple 
mented  by  such  income  and  contributions  as  it  may  re 
ceive  from  other  sources.  It  serves  a  wide  region  in 
which  are  railway  shops,  coal-mines,  and  factories,  and 
provides  facilities  for  the  sick  and  injured  which  other 
wise  would  be  unavailable  except  at  Baltimore  or  other 
large  cities.  Its  location  in  a  section  that  otherwise 
would  have  been  left  without  the  advantages  of  modern 
medical  researches  and  their  application  was  one  of 
many  instances  of  Mr.  Davis's  thoughtfulness  in  his 
charities. 

Recalling  his  own  struggles  in  early  youth,  and  the 
cares  that  fell  upon  his  mother  and  her  children,  Mr. 
Davis's  sympathies  always  went  out  strongly  to  orphans 
and  dependent  children,  and  particularly  to  girls  who 
lacked  the  means  of  obtaining  a  practical  education.  A 
cherished  intention  of  his  was  to  provide  an  industrial 
school  for  girls.  This  feeling  found  utterance  in  a  let 
ter  addressed  to  Governor  MacCorkle  in  January,  1895. 
In  this  letter  he  said : 

I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  education  and  training  of  young 
girls,  especially  in  West  Virginia,  whose  circumstances  and  sur 
roundings  would  prevent  them  from  securing  such  advantages. 
We  ought  to  have  a  State  institution  where  girls  could,  at  small 
expense,  be  able  to  receive  such  education  and  industrial  training 
as  would  better  fit  them  for  the  affairs  of  life  and  enable  them  to 
become  teachers,  clerks,  telegraph  operators,  &c.  thus  making  them 
self-supporting  and  of  greater  benefit  to  the  State. 


218  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

He  followed  this  suggestion  by  a  proposition  that  if 
the  State  would  establish  an  institution  for  the  purpose 
named,  and  make  an  annual  appropriation  sufficient  for 
its  support,  he  would  give  $50,000  and  suitable  grounds. 
Governor  MacCorkle,  in  acknowledging  the  proposition, 
spoke  of  it  as  magnificent,  and  promptly  submitted  it  to 
the  Legislature.  'Mr.  Davis  expected  that  the  institu 
tion  would  be  located  at  Davis  or  Elkins,  and  some  op 
position  was  manifested  on  that  account.  Other  causes 
also  prevented  the  Legislature  from  taking  action ;  but, 
though  he  was  not  able  to  carry  out  the  idea  in  this  form, 
he  gave  substantial  expression  to  it  in  another  manner 
which  reflected  his  deep  human  sympathies  and  the 
trend  of  his  charitable  impulses.  This  was  by  the  crea 
tion  of  the  Child's  Shelter. 

The  Children's  Society  of  West  Virginia  was  doing  the 
best  it  could  with  limited  means  to  rescue  children  from 
unfortunate  surroundings  and  find  suitable  homes  for 
them.  'Mr.  Davis  met  the  emergency  in  his  usual  prac 
tical  way.  In  the  winter  of  1899-1900,  he  bought  prop 
erty  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  consisting  of  a  large  brick 
building  with  sufficient  grounds,  and  presented  it  to  the 
society.  This  gift  he  supplemented  by  a  monthly  con 
tribution  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Home,  and  this  con 
tribution  continued  regularly  through  a  period  of  sev 
enteen  years,  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

The  Home  was  dedicated  with  appropriate  ceremonies 
over  which  Governor  Atkinson  presided.  The  Governor 
paid  a  fitting  tribute  to  Mr.  Davis  and  the  impetus  that 
his  generosity  would  give  to  carrying  on  the  work  of  the 
Society.  Hon.  George  E.  Price,  as  trustee  and  repre 
sentative  of  Mr.  Davis,  formally  presented  the  keys  to 
the  Child's  Shelter  to  Governor  Atkinson,  which  the 
Governor  in  turn  presented  to  the  superintendent,  Dr. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  219 

Thomas  Comstock.     The  gift,  Mr.  Price  said,  was  a 
deed  of  kindness  that  would  live  forever. 

Mr.  Davis's  own  account  of  his  interest  in  the  Home 
is  given  with  customary  brevity  in  several  entries  in  his 
journal,  most  of  which  are  explanatory  of  newspaper 
clippings  that  are  attached.  He  recites : 

March  i,  1900.  I  to-day  paid  draft  for  $9,500,  to  pay  for  what 
is  known  as  Bodkin  property  on  Washington  Street,  about  one  and 
one  half  squares  from  State  Capitol,  for  use  of  Children's  Home 
for  helpless  children.  I  am  to  expend  $1,000  to  $1,500  in  im 
provements  and  repairs,  and  also  contribute  $1,000  per  annum 
to  support  the  Home. 

The  canceled  draft  is  attached  to  this  entry.  It  is 
one  of  the  few  instances  in  which  Mr.  Davis  kept  a 
souvenir  of  his  benefactions.  The  permanent  endow 
ment  for  the  Home  or  Child's  Shelter,  provided  in  his 
will,  assured  it  a  definite  monthly  income  to  supplement 
what  it  obtains  from  other  sources.  When  in  Charles 
ton  he  never  failed  to  visit  the  Shelter,  and  the  hundreds 
of  little  ones  were  a  constant  reminder  of  the  good  he 
had  been  able  to  do.  During  the  years  in  which  he  lived 
to  direct  his  own  benefaction  to  it,  a  thousand  homeless 
children  were  received  and  cared  for  while  they  were 
growing  into  useful  men  and  women  under  its  fostering 
care.  That  its  usefulness  should  be  continuous  was  his 
guiding  thought  in  the  provision  for  permanent  endow 
ment. 

There  were  many  gifts  and  benefactions  which  re 
ceived  only  passing  comment  in  the  entries  he  made  in 
his  journal  from  time  to  time,  and  these  were  usually 
explanatory  of  newspaper  clippings  that  were  attached. 
To  the  town  of  Elkins  he  and  Senator  Elkins  presented 
a  park. 


220  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  Odd  Fellows'  Lodges  received  during  his  lifetime 
various  gifts,  and  these  were  supplemented  in  his  will 
by  endowments  that  insured  some  income  for  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  State  and  the  Elkins  Lodge.  A  similar 
provision  was  made  for  the  Masonic  Order  at  Elkins. 

Mr.  Davis  believed  in  organized  Christianity,  or  Chris 
tianity  at  work.  It  was  perhaps  for  that  reason  that  his 
journal  shows  numerous  evidences  of  both  his  senti 
mental  and  his  substantial  interest  in  the  work  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  He  occasionally 
delivered  addresses  to  the  members  of  the  Association  in 
different  parts  of  the  State.  In  an  address  at  Parkers- 
burg  in  October,  1905,  he  commended  especially  the  erec 
tion  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  the  first  to  be  put  up  in 
the  State,  as  a  good  example  for  other  towns.  "The 
Sunday-school,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  the  church,"  he 
said,  "are  the  three  great  agencies  for  good."  And  he 
concluded,  "You  can  depend  upon  me  for  personal  and 
financial  aid."  It  need  hardly  be  stated  that  the  aid  was 
quickly  forthcoming. 

The  permanent  form  in  which  Mr.  Davis  showed  his 
faith  in  working  Christianity  is  to  be  found  at  the  capi 
tal  of  the  State.  In  1906  he  bought  the  property  ad 
joining  the  park  that  he  previously  had  presented  to  the 
city  of  Charleston,  and  presented  this  to  the  Association, 
which  erected  on  it  a  commodious  building.  He  sup 
plemented  this  gift  by  further  contributions,  and  he  took 
the  greatest  interest  in  the  work.  In  October,  1911, 
writing  to  Mr.  W.  B.  Mathews,  chairman  of  the  program 
committee,  he  gave  this  analysis  of  the  aspirations  and 
the  functions  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association : 

"The  planning  and  erection  of  this  splendid  building 
was  an  undertaking  worthy  of  any  community,  and  its 
completion  reflects  great  credit  upon  the  citizens  of 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  221 

Charleston.  It  is  essentially  a  tangible  expression  of 
the  best  impulses,  of  the  highest  attributes,  and  of  the 
most  ennobling  traits  of  the  good  people  of  your  city. 
It  is  a  monument  to  unselfishness  and  an  inspiration  to 
the  highest  and  best  motives  of  mankind.  With  an  ad 
ministration  building  so  commodious  and  complete  in 
all  its  appointments,  much  should  be  accomplished  by  the 
Association  in  bringing  within  its  fold  the  young  men  of 
Charleston,  upon  whom,  more  than  upon  all  else,  de 
pends  its  future  material  and  moral  welfare. 

"The  youth  of  to-day  is  the  citizen  of  to-morrow,  and 
he  will  be  helpful  or  helpless  according  to  the  light  he  has 
and  the  path  he  treads.  No  better  beacon  to  guide  his 
footsteps  than  the  controlling  influences  of  the  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  At  the  capital  of  the  State  it  is  most  fitting  that  this, 
perhaps  the  greatest  in  its  sphere  of  the  moral  agencies 
of  the  present  time,  should  be  appropriately,  even  lib 
erally,  represented,  and  I  congratulate  the  people  of 
Charleston  upon  the  successful  issue  of  a  campaign  undi 
vided  in  sentiment  and  compact  in  result.  My  earnest 
prayers  go  out  for  those  engaged  in  the  great  work  of 
fortifying  young  men  against  the  temptation  of  evil 
ways,  and  of  strengthening  them  in  the  mental,  physical, 
and  spiritual  relations  of  life." 

Instances  of  the  sentiment  that  was  mingled  with  his 
practical  suggestions  could  be  multiplied,  but  enough  has 
been  recited  to  show  the  character  of  his  benefactions 
and  philanthropies.  They  were  wide  embracing. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FAMILY   AND    KINDRED 

Deeply  rooted  affections  of  Mr.  Davis — Sentiment  for  the  an 
cestral  home  Goodfellowship — Recalling  the  children  of  Caleb 
Davis  and  Louisa  Brown — The  four  brothers — The  tie  between 
Henry  and  Thomas — A  brother's  tribute — Friendship  for  his 
cousin,  Arthur  P.  Gorman — Warm  eulogy  of  Senator  Elkins,  his 
son-in-law — Children  of  Henry  G.  Davis  and  Kate  Bantz — Mar 
riages,  births,  and  deaths — Loss  of  eldest  son  at  sea — Fifty  years 
of  ideal  married  life — Death  of  Mrs.  Davis — The  final  resting- 
place. 

FAMILY  affection  was  deeply  rooted  in  the  nature 
of  Henry  G.  Davis.  It  found  expression  in  a 
hundred  ways.  His  reverence  for  his  mother 
was  one  of  the  most  attractive  traits  of  a  strong  char 
acter.  She  lived  with  him  until  her  death,  and  there  is 
nothing  more  beautiful  than  the  many  tokens  of  devo 
tion  that  appear  in  all  his  acts  during  that  period  and 
afterward.  To  her  he  attributed  many  of  the  qualities 
that  made  him  a  successful  man.  After  he  built  the  hos 
pital  at  Elkins,  he  directed  that  a  portrait  of  his  mother 
be  hung  in  one  of  the  hallways,  and  he  never  visited  the 
institution  without  pausing  before  it. 

This  love  for  his  mother  was  interwoven  with  the 
deep  sentiment  that  he  felt  for  the  place  winch  had 
been  her  home  and  the  home  of  her  ancestors,  as  well 
as  of  his  father's  ancestors. 

The  old  homestead  in  Woodstock  and  the  Goodfellow 
ship  estate  were  cherished  memories  with  him  which  he 

222 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  223 

sought  to  perpetuate.  His  journal  contains  several  ac 
counts  of  visits  to  it.  In  the  summer  of  1879  he  re 
cords  : 

I  meet  brother  John  in  Baltimore,  and  he  and  I  drive  out  Fred 
erick  pike  through  Ellicott's  Mills  to  Uncle  John's  and  Sam's. 
We  make  a  visit  to  our  old  homestead  and  father's  grave.  Many 
of  the  old  landmarks  are  there,  and  many  gone.  The  visit  brings 
back  recollections  of  old.  We  visit  Woodstock.  Things  look 
small  to  us.  We  meet  Cousin  Arthur  Gorman  and  Dr.  Watkins 
at  Uncle  John's,  and  Kitty  Hood  Faithful  meets  us.  We  return 
same  day,  John  to  Richmond,  I  to  Washington. 

Again,  in  November,  1886,  he  writes: 

Grace,  Harry,  and  John,  my  children  and  I,  went  out  to  Wood 
stock,  our  old  home ;  look  over  the  ground  where  I  used  to  play 
when  a  boy.  Dined  with  Uncle  John  Brown,  and  returned  to 
Baltimore  same  evening. 

The  sentiment  attaching  to  the  home  of  his  mother  and 
his  father,  and  the  yearning  to  make  it  a  perpetual  fam 
ily  possession,  finds  expression  in  the  journal  entry  of 
March  15,  1904: 

My  brother  Thomas  and  I  have  bought  grandmother's  old 
farm,  Good  fellowship,  near  Woodstock,  Maryland,  170  acres. 
We  deed  it  to  our  cousin,  William  Howard  Brown,  in  fee,  with 
provision  in  deed  that  it  is  to  always  remain  in  name  of  Brown 
of  our  blood.  The  old  place  has  been  in  mother's  family,  Brown, 
since  the  days  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  we  wish  it  to  stay  for  all 
time. 

Unfortunately  for  this  aspiration,  a  court  decision 
after  Mr.  Davis's  death  declared  against  the  provision  of 
family  ownership  in  perpetuity.  Yet  it  is  not  likely  that 
Goodf ellowship  ever  will  be  allowed  to  pass  to  strangers. 

Memories  of  Goodf  ellowship  naturally  carry  the  mind 
back  to  the  family  of  Caleb  Davis.  There  was  a  child  by 


224  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF. 

the  first  marriage,  Nathan  by  name,  who  died  in  in 
fancy,  and  this  was  the  only  step-brother  of  Henry  G. 
Davis.  A  full  sister,  Elizabeth,  also  died  in  infancy. 
Another  sister,  Eliza,  grew  to  womanhood,  married  Up 
ton  Buxton,  and  after  she  became  a  widow  lived  with 
her  bachelor  brother,  Thomas,  at  Keyser.  Mr.  Davis 
was  exceedingly  fond  of  her,  and  there  are  many  evi 
dences  of  the  warm  feeling  of  kinship  between  them. 

The  youngest  of  the  four  sons  of  Caleb  Davis  and 
Louisa  Brown  was  William  R.  Davis,  who  was  the  first 
to  pass  away.  It  has  been  told  in  an  earlier  chapter  how 
the  brothers  Henry  and  Thomas  aided  him  in  his  educa 
tion  and  then  took  him  into  the  firm  of  H.  G.  Davis  & 
Brothers.  He  was  identified  with  the  mercantile  activi 
ties  of  the  firm  and  with  the  development  enterprises  in 
the  upper  Potomac  for  nearly  twenty  years.  He  died 
at  Deer  Park  in  March,  1879. 

John  B.  Davis,  the  eldest  brother,  was  a  very  success 
ful  business  man,  but  he  did  not  become  identified  with 
the  coal  and  timber  and  railway  projects  of  his  brothers. 
In  early  life  he  went  to  Richmond,  established  himself  in 
business,  and  became  identified  as  a  banker  with  the  chief 
city  of  the  Old  Dominion.  He  died  in  1889.  Mr. 
Davis,  with  Mrs.  Davis  and  Thomas  B.  Davis,  was  sum 
moned  to  Richmond,  but  did  not  reach  there  until  after 
his  death.  An  entry  in  Mr.  Davis's  journal  gives  a 
kindly  impression  of  the  bond  that  existed  between  the 
brothers,  although  they  had  not  been  closely  associated 
after  they  left  the  paternal  home  at  Woodstock : 

February  14,  1889.  Mrs.  Davis  and  I  returned  late  last  night 
from  Richmond.  We  went  down  Tuesday  morning.  My  brother 
Tom  was  with  us.  John  died  Monday  morning  about  three 
o'clock.  He  was  one  of  the  best  and  kindest  of  men.  All  who 
knew  him  thought  well  of  him.  I  feel  the  death  deeply. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  225 

The  affection  between  the  two  brothers,  Henry  and 
Thomas,  was  one  of  extraordinary  depth.  Thomas  was 
younger  by  only  five  years,  so  that  their  lives  ran  almost 
evenly  together.  Both  had  shared  the  privations  fol 
lowing  the  loss  of  the  family  fortune;  both  had  worked 
on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  together  they 
had  started  in  business  in  the  upper  Potomac  country. 
Their  business  relations  continued  until  the  end,  but 
Thomas  always  referred  to  Henry  as  the  leader  in  their 
enterprises,  which  was  the  fact.  Together  they  cleared 
the  timberlands,  developed  coal-mines,  and  opened  rail 
ways. 

Their  interest  in  public  affairs  also  ran  parallel.  Dur 
ing  the  public  life  of  Henry  G.,  Colonel  Tom,  as  he  was 
called,  who  had  less  liking  for  politics,  took  the  most 
intense  personal  interest  in  the  elder's  career.  When 
Henry  ceased  to  hold  public  position,  Colonel  Tom, 
largely  through  his  urging,  occasionally  ran  for  office, 
sometimes  successfully,  sometimes  unsuccessfully.  He 
served  as  a  member  of  the  West  Virginia  Legislature  for 
one  term,  and  later  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  In  acknowledging  a  telegram  from  Henry 
congratulating  him  on  his  election  to  Congress,  Colonel 
Tom  responded :  "Thank  you,  Henry ;  I  owe  it  princi 
pally  to  you."  This  was  true. 

Colonel  Tom  maintained  his  home  at  Keyser,  and  the 
elder  brother  spent  much  time  there.  During  one  of  his 
winters  in  Congress  they  took  rooms  together  at  a  Wash 
ington  hotel.  Their  business  relations  naturally  kept 
them  in  close  touch  each  with  the  other,  but  this  inter 
course  was  not  enough  to  satisfy  them.  When  they  were 
apart  daily  letters  were  exchanged. 

Thomas  B.  Davis  died  at  Keyser  on  November  26, 
1911,  in  his  eighty-third  year.  The  elder  brother  went 


226  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

at  once  to  Keyser  and  arranged  for  the  burial  at  Elkins, 
"near  where  I  expect  to  be  buried."  And  it  was  at  El- 
kins  that  Thomas  B.  Davis  was  buried.  A  brother's 
tribute  to  a  brother  is  found  in  an  unusual  document, 
that  is,  in  the  will  of  Henry  G.  Davis.  It  is  thus  given 
in  his  own  language : 

When  we  were  all  young  men  my  brothers  Thomas  B.  Davis 
and  William  R.  Davis  and  myself  entered  into  business  together 
under  the  name  of  H.  G.  Davis  &  Co.,  which  continued  until  the 
death  of  my  brother  William,  when  the  firm  became  H.  G.  Davis 
&  Bro.,  and  so  remained  until  the  death  of  my  brother  Thomas 
on  November  26,  1911,  leaving  me  the  surviving  partner  of  the 
firm,  although  the  eldest  born  of  the  three  original  members  there 
of.  During  all  this  long  period  of  partnership  my  brothers  and 
I  were  in  full  accord  in  all  our  dealings;  all  our  relations  both 
business  and  personal  were  always  harmonious  and  pleasant ;  and 
I  wish  to  record  here  especially  my  appreciation  of  the  generous 
and  sympathetic  cooperation  of  my  brother  Thomas,  who  long 
survived  William,  in  all  our  business  affairs  extending  over  fifty 
years,  and  to  speak  of  the  affection  and  regard  in  which  I  held 
him  and  which  endured  and  increased  during  this  long  association. 

For  his  cousin,  Arthur  Pue  Gorman,  Mr.  Davis  en 
tertained  a  friendship  that  was  profound.  Mr.  Gorman 
was  the  son  of  his  mother's  younger  sister,  Eliza 
beth  A.  Brown,  and  Peter  Gorman.  He  was  born  at 
Woodstock,  and,  though  younger  than  Henry  G.  Davis, 
they  were  thrown  much  together  in  their  early  life.  La 
ter  they  came  to  be  intimately  associated  in  politics  and 
business.  This  intimate  relation  was  one  of  unbounded 
trust  and  confidence  on  the  part  of  both. 

Davis  had  a  keen  appreciation  of  Gorman's  political 
acumen,  and  thought  very  highly  also  of  his  business 
qualities.  Gorman,  on  his  part,  understood  the  char 
acter  of  Henry  G.  Davis  as  few  men  did,  and  probably 
possessed  a  greater  influence  over  him  than  did  anybody 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  227 

with  whom  he  was  associated  throughout  his  long  life. 
He  knew  the  roots  of  that  strong  individuality;  but,  like 
others,  he  usually  preferred  to  accept  Senator  Davis  as 
the  leader  and  regarded  himself  as  a  follower. 

The  letters  interchanged  between  the  two  men  show 
how  strong  was  the  bond  between  them.  Usually  they 
were  signed  "Your  friend  and  cousin."  There  were 
many  communications  of  this  kind  of  a  purely  personal 
character,  but  there  were  also  some  of  a  political  nature. 
In  the  account  given  of  his  public  life  it  is  shown  how 
highly  Senator  Davis  regarded  Gorman,  even  to  the  hope 
of  helping  to  make  him  President.  The  intimate  per 
sonal  relation  has  more  human  interest.  In  September, 
1899,  Mr.  Davis's  journal  entry  records  a  visit  of  two 
days  "to  my  cousin  and  friend  Hon.  A.  P.  Gorman  at  his 
home  near  Laurel,  Maryland,"  and  there  were  numerous 
other  visits  of  this  kind. 

When  Senator  Gorman  died  in  June,  1906,  Mr.  Davis, 
in  recording  the  event,  gives  some  indication  of  his  own 
feelings : 

Received  several  telegrams  telling  me  of  death  of  Senator  Gor 
man.  Our  mothers  were  sisters.  The  Senator  was  serving  his 
fifth  term  in  Senate,  and  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  Senate  and 
country.  A  trusted  Democrat.  He  leaves  many,  very  many 
friends. 

For  another  man  who  filled  a  large  place  in  his  day 
and  generation,  not  of  kin  by  blood,  but  by  marriage, 
Mr.  Davis  conceived  a  friendship  that  was  deep  and 
strong.  This  was  Stephen  B.  Elkins.  Both  were  men 
of  marked  individuality,  but  in  many  respects  their  char 
acters  were  directly  contrary.  They  were  opposed  in 
politics,  and  each  filled  high  positions  of  trust  and  honor 
bestowed  on  him  when  his  party  was  in  power.  Nat- 


228  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

urally,  this  brought  them  into  conflict  during  heated 
political  campaigns,  yet  it  never  was  allowed  to  alienate 
them  even  temporarily.  In  business  they  were  asso 
ciated  for  more  than  thirty  years  and  they  worked  har 
moniously  together.  In  their  family  relations  there  was 
the  warmest  sympathy.  When  Senator  Elkins  died  in 
Washington,  early  in  January,  1911,  Mr.  Davis,  in  his 
journal  entry,  put  in  a  single  striking  sentence  his  esti 
mate  of  his  son-in-law : 

Elkins  was  a  noble,  generous,  brainy,  and  talented  man. 

Marriages,  births,  deaths — these  are  the  records  of 
every  life.  The  marriage  of  Henry  G.  Davis  and  Kate 
Bantz  at  Frederick,  in  1853,  has  been  told  in  preceding 
pages.  Eight  children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  three 
of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Those  who  grew  to  woman 
hood  and  manhood  were  Hallie,  Henry,  Kate,  Grace, 
and  John.  Hallie  was  married  to  Hon.  Stephen  B.  El 
kins  at  Baltimore,  in  April,  1875.  Kate  was  married 
to  Lieutenant  M.  R.  G.  Brown  of  the  Navy  at  Washing 
ton,  in  1886.  John  was  married  to  Bessie  J.  Armstead 
of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  at  Brooklyn,  in  November, 
1897.  Grace  was  married  to  Arthur  Lee  of  Richmond 
at  Elkins,  in  September,  1898.  From  these  unions 
sprang  the  group  of  grandchildren,  the  delight  of  Sen 
ator  Davis  in  his  advancing  years,  for  whom  he  showed 
his  fondness  in  a  thousand  ways. 

Of  the  children  who  grew  up,  the  first  shadow  came 
when  Henry,  the  eldest  son,  was  lost  at  sea.  Possessed 
of  a  wandering  disposition,  he  showed  an  inclination  for 
the  sailor's  life.  In  1892  he  made  a  voyage  to  Libau, 
Russia,  on  the  Missouri,  a  big  ship  loaded  with  grain  for 
the  relief  of  the  sufferers  from  the  great  famine  which 
at  that  time  gripped  with  starvation  the  population  of 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  229 

one  section  of  the  Czar's  empire.  Some  years  later  he 
embarked  on  a  voyage  on  a  sailing  vessel  to  South 
Africa,  in  the  hope  of  regaining  failing  health.  He 
took  passage  on  the  Monkeston  from  New  York  for 
Cape  Colony,  and  started  to  return  on  the  same  vessel. 
This  was  in  April,  1896.  Early  in  May  the  family  re 
ceived  a  cablegram  from  Mt.  Vincent,  West  Africa,  say 
ing  that  the  son  had  been  drowned.  When  the  full  par 
ticulars  were  received  later  it  was  learned  that  he  had 
been  swept  overboard  during  a  storm.  He  was  twenty- 
six  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  blow  was  a 
severe  one  for  his  father  and  mother,  but  it  was  accepted 
with  Christian  fortitude. 

Kate,  the  second  daughter,  died  in  Washington  in 
January,  1903,  after  a  brief  illness.  Her  husband,  Lieu 
tenant  Commander  Brown,  died  four  years  later.  A 
bright  page  in  his  naval  record  was  his  heroic  service  on 
the  Trenton  at  Samoa  during  the  hurricane  in  1889. 

The  record  of  the  life  comradeship  of  Mr.  Davis  and 
his  wife  is  too  sacred  to  be  written  in  its  intimate  char 
acter,  Mrs.  Davis  was  a  woman  of  keen  intellect  and 
of  sprightly  disposition.  Temperamentally,  in  many  re 
spects  she  was  the  opposite  of  her  husband.  She  was, 
nevertheless,  in  full  sympathy  with  his  aspirations  and 
his  ambitions.  She  cared  less  for  the  social  side  of  public 
life  than  for  her  own  family  circle,  but  she  never  failed 
to  maintain  herself  in  a  manner  fitting  the  public  respon 
sibilities  of  Mr.  Davis.  The  men  and  women  with  whom 
they  were  associated  during  his  terms  in  the  United 
States  Senate  and  afterward  always  found  the  hospi 
tality  of  the  Davis  home  made  the  more  congenial  by  the 
hostess. 

Mrs.  Davis  was  her  husband's  companion  on  many  of 
his  trips,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  She  maintained  the 


230  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

family  homestead  at  Piedmont  during  the  early  years 
of  his  business  career,  but  her  greatest  delight  was  in 
the  summer  home  at  Deer  Park.  An  entry  in  the  jour 
nal  of  Mr.  Davis  gives  the  story  of  an  anniversary  in 
their  married  life : 

February  22,  1878.  This  is  the  twenty-fifth  or  our  silver-wed 
ding-day.  Time  has  passed  so  rapidly  that  it  appears  but  a  short 
time  since  our  marriage,  yet  we  have  two  grandchildren. 

We  celebrate  our  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  marriage  by  giv 
ing  a  dinner  at  our  rented  house  and  home  for  the  winter ;  dinner 
at  six  o'clock.  Present,  Judge  and  Mrs.  A.  G.  Thurman  of  Ohio ; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Keyser  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alex.  G.  Shaw 
of  Baltimore ;  Governor  Mathews  of  West  Virginia ;  Hon.  A.  P. 
Gorman;  Mr.  C.  F.  Mayer,  Baltimore;  T.  S.  Bantz  (Mrs.  Davis's 
brother)  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elkins  (our  family)  ;  Katie,  daughter, 
and  ourselves,  making  in  all  fifteen  persons. 

After  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  they 
were  looking  forward  to  the  celebration  of  another  an 
niversary,  their  golden  wedding;  but  this  happiness  was 
denied  them.  Mrs.  Davis  was  taken  ill  in  the  early  win 
ter  of  1902,  at  the  family  home  in  Elkins.  Her  illness 
was  alarming,  and  in  a  few  days  hope  was  abandoned. 
She  died  on  the  morning  of  December  10,  surrounded  by 
the  family.  The  tribute  paid  her  by  her  husband  in  his 
journal  may  be  transcribed  only  in  part,  a  sentence  which 
illustrates  a  strong  man's  ideal  of  married  life : 

We  loved  and  honored  each  other  dearly,  and  tried  to  so  live 
and  act  as  to  make  each  happy. 

That  family  and  kindred  might  be  together  in  death 
as  in  life  was  a  deeply  fixed  sentiment  with  Mr.  Davis. 
This  sentiment  found  expression  in  the  mausoleum  he 
provided  in  Maplewood  Cemetery  at  Elkins.  He  caused 
to  be  erected  there  a  granite  monument  to  the  memory  of 
his  father  and  mother,  with  the  dates  and  names  of  their 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  231 

children.  The  monument  adjoins  that  of  Stephen  B. 
Elkins'  family.  The  remains  of  his  mother  were  re 
moved  to  this  cemetery.  His  brother  Thomas  was  bur 
ied  there,  as  was  Lieutenant  Commander  Brown,  beside 
his  wife,  Kate,  the  Davises'  second  daughter.  Of  his 
own  wife,  Mr.  Davis  recorded  in  his  journal : 

Buried  at  Maplewood  Cemetery  near  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  which  is 
to  be  our  family's  final  resting-place. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

FAMOUS    CONTEMPORARIES 

Colleagues  in  the  Senate — Thurman,  the  sturdy  oak  of  Democ 
racy — Schurz  and  Sherman — Windom  as  Senator  and  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury — Elaine's  friendship — Bayard's  esteem — Qual 
ities  in  common  with  Allison — Vice-Presidents  Wheeler  and  Hen- 
dricks — Benjamin  Harrison's  personality — Porfirio  Diaz  and 
Mexico — A  page  from  contemporary  history — The  Cuban  War — 
W.  W.  Corcoran,  the  philanthropist — Andrew  Carnegie — Rail 
way  men  and  events — The  great  strike  of  1877 — John  W.  Garrett 
as  a  board  of  directors — Annual  dinners  to  railway  presidents — 
Estimate  of  George  B.  Roberts  and  A.  J.  Cassatt — George  F. 
Baer — Presentation  of  urn  to  Mr.  Davis — Daniel  Willard  and 
the  younger  generation  of  contemporaries. 

THE  names  of  public  men  after  they  are  gone  float 
swiftly  down  the  stream  of  oblivion.  Later  gen 
erations  recall  few  of  them.  Yet  in  certain  pe 
riods  there  are  groups  of  these  men  whose  memories  do 
not  so  quickly  vanish.  Great  events  produce  them. 
Mr.  Davis  served  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  at 
a  time  when  there  were  many  giants  among  his  contem 
poraries.  The  names  of  some  of  these  and  the  parts 
they  played  in  the  drama  of  national  life  begin  to  fade. 
The  story  of  that  period  as  told  in  previous  chapters  may 
be  retold  only  to  show  his  own  intimate  relation  with 
some  of  them. 

Allen  G.  Thurman  of  Ohio  was  the  sturdy  oak  of  the 
National  Democratic  party  in  the  era  following  the  Civil 

War.     For  ten  years  the  two  were  colleagues  in  the 

232 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  233 

Senate  and  their  associations  were  of  the  most  intimate 
character.  Davis  admired  and  revered  Senator  Thur- 
man's  intellect.  Thurman  had  the  greatest  confidence 
in  the  judgment  of  Senator  Davis,  leaned  on  him  in  mat 
ters  of  party  tactics  and  in  personal  affairs,  and  always 
called  him  affectionately  by  his  first  name.  What 
"Henry"  thought  about  some  question  of  political  strat 
egy,  and  where  "Henry"  was  when  Thurman  himself 
was  under  some  great  personal  strain,  was  always  the  in 
quiry  of  the  Ohio  leader  of  the  Democracy. 

Carl  Schurz  was  another  figure  of  note  when  Mr. 
Davis  first  entered  the  Senate.  The  cold  analytic  intel 
lect  and  the  German  mind  of  Mr.  Schurz  with  its  de 
structive  criticism  would  not  appear  to  have  attraction 
for  the  matter-of-fact  intellect  and  the  constructive  mind 
of  Senator  Davis;  but,  while  there  was  no  intimacy  be 
tween  the  two  men,  there  was  a  mutual  respect  which 
brought  them  into'  friendly  relations  and  continued  after 
Mr.  Schurz  entered  the  Cabinet  of  President  Hayes. 

John  Sherman  had  a  genuine  liking  for  Senator 
Davis.  While  they  quarreled  in  the  Senate  over  Treas 
ury  bookkeeping  and  over  financial  questions,  Sherman 
had  great  respect  for  Davis's  opinions  and  frequently 
consulted  him  on  fiscal  subjects,  sometimes  writing  for 
his  views  and  sometimes  seeking  the  opportunity  of  a 
personal  talk.  He  was  occasionally  the  guest  of  Senator 
Davis  at  Deer  Park,  and  on  those  occasions  other  guests 
observed  a  warmth  of  sympathy  that  seemed  to  be  drawn 
out  by  Mr.  Davis  himself. 

Among  all  the  men  who  were  in  the  Senate  as  his  col 
leagues,  Senator  Davis  was  drawn  to  William  Windom 
of  Minnesota  as  to  few  others.  They  served  together  on 
the  same  committees,  and  were  of  kindred  minds  in  the 
fiscal  and  other  subjects  of  legislation  which  required 


234  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

knowledge  of  economics  in  the  broadest  sense.  Senator 
Windom  was  associated  with  Mr.  Davis  in  his  business 
enterprises,  and  there  was  no  one  on  whose  judgment 
Mr.  Davis  was  willing  to  defer  so  much  as  to  him. 
When  Mr.  Windom  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  un 
der  President  Harrison  they  were  frequently  together, 
and  Mr.  Davis  probably  had  more  to  do  than  was  gen 
erally  known  with  shaping  certain  Treasury  policies. 
Mr.  Davis's  estimate  of  his  former  colleague  is  given  in 
two  entries  in  his  journal : 

January  30,  1891.  This  morning  the  country  was  shocked  and 
surprised  at  the  sudden  death  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hon. 
William  Windom.  He  had  just  delivered  a  speech  at  annual  din 
ner  of  New  York  Board  of  Trade,  and  in  five  minutes  after  fin 
ishing  was  dead.  He  was  a  good,  valuable  man,  and  my  close 
friend.  He  was  four  years  my  junior.  I  served  in  Senate  with 
him  and  had  respect  and  affection  for  him.  I  attended  funeral 
as  one  of  the  family. 

A  newspaper  clipping,  accompanying'  a  picture  of  Sec 
retary  Windom,  gave  occasion  for  this  comment : 

This  is  very  good  of  my  friend  Windom;  he  was  a  noble  and 
good  man.  The  world  is  better  that  Windom  lived  in  it. 

The  friendship  between  James  G.  Blaine  and  Henry  G. 
Davis  has  been  shown  in  many  paragraphs  in  these 
pages.  Mr.  Davis  felt  the  magnetic  qualities  of  Mr. 
Blaine,  as  he  had  felt  those  of  Henry  Clay,  but  there 
was  something  beyond  these  personal  qualities.  It  was 
not,  on  Mr.  Davis's  part,  based  entirely  on  respect  for 
Mr.  Elaine's  knowledge  of  public  questions,  for  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  criticize  the  great  Republican  leader. 
Though  he  had  a  great  admiration  for  Mr.  Elaine's  in 
tellect,  he  was  distrustful  of  his  brilliancy.  Their 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  235 

friendship  began  when  they  were  colleagues  in  the  Sen 
ate. 

Sometimes  sharply  differing  on  public  questions  from 
his  party  colleagues,  Mr.  Elaine  was  not  without  sym 
pathy  with  attacks  made  by  Senator  Davis  on  the  posi 
tion  maintained  by  them,  and  it  is  more  than  tradition 
that  on  one  occasion  he  helped  Senator  Davis  "round 
out"  a  speech  that  was  somewhat  disturbing  to  several 
of  the  Republican  leaders  in  the  Senate.  The  social  in 
timacy  of  the  two  men  was  cemented  by  close  business 
associations.  It  was,  however,  as  a  contemporary  of 
Senator  Davis,  who  to  Mr.  Elaine  represented  the  em 
bodiment  of  common  sense,  that  in  his  "Twenty  Years 
of  Congress"  he  summed  up  the  salient  traits  of  Mr. 
Davis's  character  as  a  public  man. 

Thomas  F.  Bayard  of  Delaware  was  a  contemporary 
who  filled  a  large  space  in  public  life  during  the  periods 
when  Mr.  Davis  also  was  prominent.  The  scholarly 
Senator  from  Delaware  was  strongly  drawn  to  the 
rugged  Senator  from  West  Virginia.  Yet,  though  be 
longing  to  the  same  political  organization,  they  fre 
quently  held  strongly  divergent  views  on  public  ques 
tions.  Senator  Bayard,  in  his  association  with  Mr. 
Davis  in  railway  enterprises,  relied  entirely  on  the  lat- 
ter's  judgment.  While  Secretary  of  State  during  Pres 
ident  Cleveland's  first  administration  and  Ambassador 
to  Great  Britain  during  the  second  administration,  he 
never  failed  to  keep  in  touch  with  his  former  colleagues. 

William  B.  Allison  of  Iowa,  who  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  dominated  the  expenditures  of  the  National  Gov 
ernment  through  his  chairmanship  a  part  of  the  time  of 
the  powerful  Appropriations  Committee,  and  the  re 
mainder  of  the  time  through  his  general  knowledge  and 


236  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

his  personality,  was  one  of  the  contemporaries  to  whom 
Senator  Davis  was  closely  drawn.  They  had  much  in 
common.  Senator  Allison,  as  a  legislator  with  a  very 
practical  mind,  could  appreciate  and  did  appreciate  the 
same  qualities  in  Senator  Davis.  They  worked  together 
harmoniously  in  committee,  and  on  the  floor  of  the  Sen 
ate  they  usually  were  found  in  complete  sympathy  in 
whatever  related  to  the  expenditures  of  the  Government. 
Until  the  close  of  his  life,  Senator  Allison  always  wel 
comed  a  visit  from  Mr.  Davis  after  the  latter  had  ceased 
to  be  a  Senator. 

William  A.  Wheeler,  in  his  day  an  influential  mem 
ber  of  Congress  who  left  his  impress  on  the  period  in 
which  he  served,  was  another  contemporary  for  whom 
Mr.  Davis  cherished  a  warm  regard.  Few  now  recall 
that  he  was  Vice-President  when  Rutherford  B.  Hayes 
was  President,  and  presided  over  the  Senate  with  a  grace 
and  impartiality  that  disarmed  partizan  hostility.  A 
hint  of  their  friendship  is  given  in  the  journal  entries 
of  Senator  Davis  when  he  records  that  Vice-President 
Wheeler  frequently  called  him  to  the  chair. 

Vice-President  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  was  a  contem 
porary  of  his  own  political  faith  with  whom  his  rela 
tions,  while  not  intimate,  were  friendly,  although  he  was 
not  in  the  Senate  during  the  brief  period  that  Mr.  Hen 
dricks  served  as  Vice-President  before  death  called  him. 
They  had  met  at  Democratic  National  Conventions  and 
had  had  some  association-  in  campaign  management. 
When  Grover  Cleveland  was  nominated  for  President 
and  the  selection  for  Vice-President  lay  between  Mr. 
Hendricks  and  Mr.  Davis,  he  had  advised  the  selection 
of  Hendricks.  Mr.  Davis  had  a  warm  admiration  for 
Hendricks  as  one  of  the  principal  intellectual  forces  of 
the  Democratic  party.  His  personal  regard  was  shown 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  237 

when  he  named  one  of  the  stations  on  his  railway, 
Hendricks. 

President  Benjamin  Harrison  was  the  contemporary 
who  of  all  public  men  received  from  Mr.  Davis  the  great 
est  meed  of  respect  for  his  intellectual  qualities  and  his 
capacity  as  a  political  leader.  Their  service  in  the  Sen 
ate  did  not  run  parallel  for  a  long  period,  since  General 
Harrison  entered  it  when  Senator  Davis  was  closing  his 
term.  But  the  two  men  were  attracted  to  each  other 
from  their  first  meeting.  That  the  friendship  between 
them  developed  into  the  closest  kind  of  social  intimacy 
has  been  shown  in  the  chapters  on  Deer  Park  and  on 
the  political  activities  of  Mr.  Davis.  He  often  com 
mented  on  the  grasp  that  President  Harrison  had  on 
governmental  affairs  and  the  clearness  with  which  he 
formulated  political  principles. 

General  Harrison,  on  his  part,  confessed  a  definite 
lack  of  ability  when  it  came  to  his  own  business  affairs, 
and  he  would  turn  to  Mr.  Davis  for  advice  regarding 
private  investments.  He  also  had  great  respect  for  the 
judgment  of  Mr.  Davis  in  public  matters,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  seek  it,  regardless  of  party  differences,  even 
to  the  composition  of  his  Cabinet.  It  gave  him  much 
satisfaction  when  in  a  non-political  appointment  he  was 
able  to  honor  the  Senator  by  designating  him  as  one  of 
the  delegates  to  the  First  International  American  Con 
ference.  When  new  issues  arose,  growing  out  of  the 
Spanish-American  War,  the  two  men  found  themselves 
in  sympathy.  General  Harrison  was  among  the  elder 
statesmen  of  the  Republican  party  who  were  not  in  ac 
cord  with  the  Philippine  policy  and  who  distrusted  the 
possibility  of  imperialism.  Mr.  Davis  was  also  distrust 
ful  of  the  Philippines  and  of  the  imperialistic  tendencies. 
They  corresponded  on  the  subject. 


238  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

In  the  field  of  international  affairs  there  was  one  con 
temporary  of  whom  Mr.  Davis  was  intensely  apprecia 
tive.  This  was  Porfirio  Diaz  of  Mexico.  When  he  vis 
ited  Mexico  in  1895  he  was  already  known  for  his  identi 
fication  with  the  Pan-American  Railway  project.  He 
had  helped  to  initiate  it  in  the  International  American 
Conference  and  had  been  active  in  the  Intercontinental 
Survey.  Mexico,  as  one  of  the  countries  on  the  inter 
continental  trunk  line  route,  was  interested  in  the  gen 
eral  subject.  It  was  also  interested  in  railway  construc 
tion  as  a  means  of  internal  development  and  political 
stability.  Something  was  known  by  President  Diaz  of 
Henry  G.  Davis  as  a  railway  builder  and  as  the  expo 
nent  of  an  idea.  They  had  several  interviews,  and 
through  the  President  of  Mexico  Mr.  Davis  learned 
something  of  the  Diaz  policy. 

Seven  years  later,  when,  as  the  chairman  of  the  Amer 
ican  Delegation  to  the  Mexican  Conference,  he  was  en 
abled  to  give  more  definite  shape  to  the  Pan-American 
Railway  project,  Mr.  Davis  received  the  heartiest  co 
operation  from  President  Diaz,  who  took  a  personal  in 
terest  in  furthering  his  plans.  After  Mr.  Davis's  return 
to  the  United  States,  President  Diaz  never  failed  to  make 
inquiries  regarding  his  activities,  and  occasionally  he 
transmitted  personal  messages. 

Mr.  Davis  found  occasion  to  give  his  estimate  of  Por 
firio  Diaz  in  a  book  that  was  published  a  short  time  be 
fore  the  revolutionary  storm  broke  over  Mexico.  He 
wrote  in  1910: 

General  Diaz  is  a  striking  and  commanding  figure  in  modern 
times.  Probably  no  country  during  the  past  century  has  felt  the 
influence  of  any  one  man  more  than  Mexico  has  of  General  Diaz. 
Although  a  soldier  both  by  profession  and  nature,  whose  military 
services  had  been  of  the  highest  order,  yet  his  greatest  victo- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  239 

ries  have  been  in  the  direction  of  peace  and  tranquillity.  .  .  ^ 
Under  his  forcible  and  effective  administration  of  affairs  the 
people  have  advanced  in  all  lines  of  domestic  and  commercial 
welfare,  and  the  Republic  has  been  brought  to  a  much  higher 
plane  in  the  sisterhood  of  nations.  His  personal  character  and  ex 
ecutive  strength  have  been  a  guaranty  of  the  safety  of  foreign 
capital,  the  introduction  of  which  has  done  so  much  to  aid  in  the 
development  of  the  country's  wonderful  mineral  and  other  re 
sources.  One  may  speak  of  almost  any  country  of  the  world 
without  anyone  predominating  therein,  but  Mexico  and  Diaz  are 
inseparable.  He  has  built  so  well  that  I  am  sure  the  foundation 
he  has  laid  will  endure,  and  that  Mexico  will  continue  under  his 
successors  in  the  march  of  progress  in  which  he  has  so  masterfully 
led  it. 

Events  showed  that  Mr.  Davis's  judgment  was  at  fault 
regarding  stable  conditions  in  Mexico.  He  lived  to  see 
President  Diaz,  a  contemporary  whose  life  ran  almost 
parallel  with  his  own,  driven  into  exile  and  death. 
Sometimes  he  commented  on  this  tragic  occurrence,  but 
it  did  not  change  his  estimate  of  Porfirio  Diaz  and  the 
good  that  Diaz  had  wrought  for  Mexico. 

Contemporary  events  as  well  as  contemporary  men 
were  recorded  by  Mr.  Davis.  What  more  vivid  picture 
of  a  momentous  episode  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States  than  this  page  from  his  journal: 

March  31,  1898.  For  about  a  month  the  country  has  been  in 
an  excited  state  about  the  U.  S.  and  Spain  question,  Cuban  inde 
pendence,  and  the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine  in  Havana  harbor. 
Best  informed  men  think  probabilities  of  war  about  equal.  Pres 
ident  McKinley,  Speaker  Reed,  Senator  Elkins,  are  what  is  termed 
peace  men. 

April  13,  1898.  Much  excitement  in  the  country  generally 
about  war  between  U.  S.  and  Spain  in  regard  to  independence  of 
Cuba.  Chances  of  war  and  peace  about  equal. 

April  20,  1898.  War  has  commenced  between  U.  S.  and  Spain. 
War  caused  by  Spain's  brutal  war  on  the  Cubans,  who  are  fight- 


24o  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ing  for  their  liberty  and  right  of  self-government.  Also,  blow 
ing  up  of  U.  S.  war  vessel  Maine  in  harbor  of  Havana.  Official 
date  of  war  is  April  21,  1898. 

May  10,  1898.  On  ist  inst  Com.  Dewey's  great  naval  victory 
at  Manila.  Country  in  great  enthusiasm  over  Dewey  victory. 
125,000  volunteers  for  war  called,  600,000  offer.  Com.  Sampson 
gone  with  ships  to  Porto  Rico,  expect  news  of  fighting  soon. 

May  16,  1898.  U.  S.  and  Spain  war  preparations  going  on 
rapidly.  Naval  battle  daily  expected  off  Cuba. 

August  12,  1898.  Protocol  of  peace  between  U.  S.  and  Spain 
signed  by  French  Minister  Cambon  for  Spain  and  Secretary 
Day  for  U.  S.  President  McKinley  issued  proclamation  of 
peace. 

Among  Mr.  Davis's  contemporaries,  entirely  outside 
of  the  list  of  public  men  and  political  leaders,  was  W.  W. 
Corcoran,  the  Washington  banker  and  philanthropist. 
Mr.  Corcoran  was  a  few  years  older,  but  his  life  cov 
ered  nearly  the  same  period  in  its  earlier  activities  as  did 
that  of  Mr.  Davis.  The  foundation  of  his  fortune  was 
laid  during  the  Mexican  War  in  the  loan  negotiated  for 
the  Government,  and  he  rarely  ventured  beyond  this 
field  of  financing;  but  he  was  sympathetic  with  the  con 
structive  enterprises  of  Mr.  Davis.  Their  social  rela 
tions  were  of  the  closest  character,  and  when  one  of  Mr. 
Corcoran's  most  notable  charities,  the  Louise  Home  for 
indigent  gentlewomen,  was  dedicated,  he  insisted  on  the 
presence  of  Mrs.  Davis  as  a  special  guest. 

Andrew  Carnegie  was  a  contemporary  whom  Mr. 
Davis  looked  up  to  with  something  akin  to  reverence, 
and  on  his  part  Mr.  Carnegie  regarded  Mr.  Davis  as  a 
distinctive  figure  in  national  history.  Their  construc 
tive  work  and  industry  may  have  been  the  sympathetic 
bond  on  which  their  friendship  was  based.  Their  real 
kindredship  found  expression  in  their  mutual  interest 
in  the  Pan-American  countries,  and  in  particular  in  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  241 

Pan-American  Railway  project.  They  worked  together 
for  this  project  at  the  First  International  American  Con 
ference,  and  when  the  Second  Conference  at  Mexico  pro 
vided  for  the  permanent  Pan-American  Railway  Com 
mittee,  with  Mr.  Davis  as  its  chairman,  his  first  request 
was  that  Mr.  Carnegie  serve  on  the  Committee  with  him. 
This  Mr.  Carnegie  did. 

Whenever  he  was  in  Washington  he  took  time  to  call 
on  "The  Senator,"  as  he  always  designated  Mr.  Davis. 
Many  letters  were  interchanged  between  them.  A  char 
acteristic  letter  related  to  the  Pan-American  Railway 
project.  It  was  written  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Davis  felt 
that  governmental  agencies  in  furthering  this  project 
were  somewhat  too  slow  and  might  be  hastened  by  the 
aid  of  private  enterprise : 

My  dear  Mr.  Chairman: 

Yours  of  January  3ist  received.  I  can  only  repeat  that  the 
railway  extension  proposed  is  a  wise  missionary  effort  and  I  shall 
be  glad  to  join  your  syndicate.  You  cannot  engage  in  a  nobler 
work  and  we  youngsters  all  take  heart  when  we  see  the  old  vet 
eran  with  his  coat  off. 
With  best  wishes, 

Always  very  truly  yours, 

ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

Much  of  the  life  and  times  of  Henry  G.  Davis,  as  it 
has  been  written,  relates  to  his  work  as  a  railway  builder. 
A  supplemental  chapter  might  be  written  on  his  rela 
tions  with  his  railway  contemporaries,  the  leading  men 
of  two  generations,  and  of  his  observations  on  events 
that  formed  important  periods  in  railway  history. 
Nothing  is  more  vivid  than  the  brief  description  in  his 
journal  of  the  greatest  railway  strike  in  the  history  of 
the  country.  The  whole  story  is  found  in  these  entries, 
which  form  a  contemporary  account : 


242  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

July  1 6,  1877.  The  other  trunk  lines  having  made  a  reduction 
of  ten  per  cent,  of  all  employees,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  gives 
notice  they  will  do  the  same,  taking  effect  to-day.  The  brakemen 
and  firemen  strike,  commencing  at  Baltimore  and  Martinsburg. 
It  soon  extends  all  over  the  road,  and  no  freight  trains  are  al 
lowed  to  run  by  the  strikers;  mail  and  passenger  trains  run  as 
usual. 

July  18,  1877.  Governor  Mathews  of  West  Va.  resisted  calling 
on  Federal  Government  for  troops  as  long  as  safety  to  property 
would  allow.  He  called  on  i8th.  At  Baltimore  there  were  a 
number  of  lives  lost.  Mob  stoned  military  when  called  out  and 
on  way  to  Camden  depot.  The  troops  fired  on  mob,  killing  about 
twenty. 

July  22,  1877.  Strike  on  B.  &  O.  continues.  All  is  quiet  on 
this  road,  only  passenger  trains  are  run.  Strike  commences  on 
Pa.  Central  road  at  Pittsburgh  on  2Oth.  It  is  becoming  very 
alarming.  Many  persons  are  killed.  Some  of  the  military  are 
among  the  killed. 

July  21,  1877.  Mob,  including  railroad  strikers  and  many 
others  (women  and  children  included),  have  complete  possession 
of  Pittsburgh.  Nearly  all  the  property  of  Pa.  Central  Railroad 
is  destroyed,  among  which  is  nearly  three  or  four  thousand  cars 
and  contents,  120  or  130  engines,  shops,  roundhouses,  depots,  etc., 
estimated  loss  $8,000,000. 

July  22,  1877.  Strike  has  become  nearly  general  on  railroads 
in  the  country.  Only  day  passenger  trains  now  run  on  B.  &  O., 
and  most  of  the  other  roads. 

July  23,  1877.  Strike  continues  and  is  now  general  all  over  the 
country.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  property  destroyed,  es 
pecially  at  Pittsburgh. 

Some  of  his  experiences,  however,  were  not  recorded 
in  his  journal,  but  were  told  on  the  rare  occasions  when 
he  was  in  a  reminiscent  vein.  One  incident,  which  it 
always  pleased  him  to  recall,  related  to  the  era  when  the 
railway  president  usually  was  the  man  whose  individ 
uality  and  force  had  made  him  such  and  who  conse 
quently  dominated  the  policy  of  the  company.  It  was 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  243 

the  age  of  the  railway  autocrats.  One  of  these  who  left 
a  large  impress  on  the  history  of  the  country  was  John 
W.  Garrett,  president  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio. 

Long  after  Mr.  Davis  had  left  the  employ  of  this  com 
pany,  and  when  he  had  important  lumber  and  coal  con 
tracts  with  it,  he  went  to  Baltimore  to  see  about  a  new 
contract  involving  some  important  operations.  With 
his  customary  business  forethought  he  had  the  document 
drawn  up  in  legal  form  with  a  view  to  saving  time.  He 
went  over  the  provisions  with  President  Garrett,  who 
was  satisfied  with  them,  and  then  suggested  that  when 
the  Board  of  Directors  held  their  next  meeting  they 
should  approve  it  and  enable  him  to  go  forward  with  the 
work. 

"Davis,"  said  President  Garrett,  "when  I  am  here  the 
Board  of  Directors  is  always  in  session.  Here's  your 
contract" ;  and  he  affixed  his  signature. 

In  February,  1884,  when  he  was  at  the  height  of  his 
West  Virginia  projects,  Mr.  Davis  gave  a  dinner  to 
President  Garrett  at  the  Arlington  Hotel  in  Washing 
ton.  "There  were  present,"  he  records,  "besides  the 
host  and  his  guest,  Secretary  Folger,  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  Howe,  Senators  Bayard,  Sherman,  Windom,  Pen- 
dleton,  Gorman,  and  Camden,  Representatives  Hoge, 
Kenna,  Wilson,  McLane,  and  Flower/'  The  friendship 
between  President  Garrett  and  Mr.  Davis  was  a  very 
intimate  one.  When  Mr.  Garrett  died  at  Deer  Park  in 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Davis  was  one  of  the 
honorary  pall-bearers  and  accompanied  the  remains  to 
Baltimore. 

In  January,  1887,  he  gave  a  dinner  at  Baltimore  to 
Senator  Gorman  concerning  which  he  made  this  entry: 

Guests,  President  Roberts  and  Vice-President  Thomson  of 
Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  President  Robert  Garrett  and  Vice-President 


244  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Samuel  Spencer  of  B.  &.  O.,  President  Barnum  of  Hoosatonic 
R.  R.  and  director  in  West  Virginia  Central,  President  Baughman 
of  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal,  Enoch  Pratt,  the  philanthropist,  and 
Mr.  Burns,  chairman  of  B.  &  O.  Finance  Committee,  and  S.  B. 
Elkins,  president  of  Piedmont  &  Cumberland  Railroad. 

Mr.  Davis  was  always  a  welcome  guest  at  the  social 
entertainments  given  by  the  high  officials  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Railroad.  In  February,  1890,  he  recorded  that  he 
had  been  to  a  number  of  dinners,  among  them  that  of 
Mr.  G.  B.  Roberts,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Road, 
at  Philadelphia.  "I  sat  on  Mr.  R's  left.  Many  noted 
gentlemen  present,  among  them  G.  W.  Childs,  A.  J. 
Drexel,  &c."  Two  years  later  he  went  over  to  Phila 
delphia  to  dine  with  Mr.  Frank  Thomson.  "The  dinner 
was  a  noted  one — Messrs.  Roberts,  Depew,  Hill,  Pugh, 
Whitney,  Bristow,  &c.  Pierpont  Morgan  sat  on  right 
and  I  the  left  of  Frank  Thomson/' 

The  following  year,  and  in  subsequent  years,  he  was 
again  the  guest  of  Mr.  Roberts.  Railway  men  will  read 
with  special  interest  his  characteristic  comment  on  that 
great  figure  in  the  railway  world.  It  occurs  in  his  jour 
nal  under  date  of  February  2,  1897,  attached  to  a  news 
paper  clipping  and  picture  of  Mr.  Roberts : 

Mr.  Roberts,  president  of  Penna.  Road,  died  a  few  days  ago. 
He  was  a  great  and  noble  man ;  he  was  my  friend.  Among  rail 
way  men  he  was  generally  conceded  to  be  the  first  and  ablest  in 
the  country.  Died  at  sixty-five,  old  by  overwork.  Pennsylvania 
road  is  longest  in  the  world.  Revenue  about  $140,000,000. 

For  Alexander  J.  Cassatt,  who  became  the  head  of  the 
Pennsylvania  system  after  Mr.  Roberts's  death,  Mr. 
Davis  entertained  the  greatest  admiration.  There  was 
a  sympathetic  bond  between  them  because  Mr.  Cassatt, 
like  Mr.  Davis  himself,  was  a  believer  in  the  Pan-Ameri 
can  Railway  project,  and  lent  the  weight  not  only  of  his 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  245 

name  but  of  his  experience  to  it,  since  he  served  as  the 
head  of  the  Intercontinental  Railway  Survey  Commis 
sion.  A  newspaper  clipping  pasted  in  his  journal,  under 
date  of  January  18,  1900,  gives  an  account  of  a  dinner 
to  Mr.  Cassatt: 

Ex-Senator  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Virginia  gave  an  elegantly 
appointed  dinner  to-day  in  honor  of  President  Cassatt  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  the  guests  being  all  men  of  note 
in  the  railway  world.  The  dinner  was  entirely  a  social  affair 
and  had  no  connection  with  any  railroad  consolidation  or  other 
business  matters.  Guests — A.  J.  Cassatt,  president  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  Railroad;  John  K.  Cowen,  president  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad;  Oscar  Murray,  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio; 
Samuel  Spencer,  president  of  the  Southern ;  M.  E.  Ingalls,  presi 
dent  of  the  Big  Four;  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  president  of  the  New 
York  Central;  J.  S.  Harris,  president  of  the  Reading;  George  F. 
Baer,  vice-president  of  the  Reading;  W.  L.  Elkins,  of  the  Wi- 
dener-Elkins  syndicate;  Senator  Gorman;  Mr.  Green. 

To  the  newspaper  clipping  Mr.  Davis  added  this  com 
ment  : 

It  is  believed  that  $1,000,000,000  of  railway  property  was  rep 
resented  at  above  table.  Never  before  so  many  great  railway 
presidents  at  same  table. 

Mr.  George  F.  Baer  of  the  Reading,  a  conspicuous  and 
combative  figure  in  his  day,  was  a  warm  friend  of  Mr. 
Davis  and  was  his  guest  sometimes  in  Washington  and 
sometimes  at  the  summer  home  in  Elkins.  Mr.  Davis 
entertained  Mr.  Baer  in  Washington  in  the  midwinter  of 
1907. 

President  Oscar  G.  Murray  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
was  the  guest  of  honor  at  a  dinner  given  a  year  later, 
which  included,  among  the  guests  other  than  railway  of 
ficials,  Chairman  M.  A.  Knapp  of  the  Interstate  Com 
merce  Commission,  James  Speyer,  the  banker,  and  sev- 


246  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

eral  leading  public  men.  The  dinner  the  following  year 
was  a  notable  one.  Mr.  Davis  was  then  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year.  His  account  of  it  follows : 

I  gave  a  dinner  to  railway  presidents  and  vice-presidents. 
Twenty-four  present.  All  went  off  well.  Nearly  all  east  of 
Ohio  present. 

The  feeling  entertained  toward  Mr.  Davis  by  the 
high  railway  officials  who  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting 
at  his  board  found  permanent  expression,  at  the  sugges 
tion  of  President  Frederick  D.  Underwood  of  the  Erie 
system,  at  the  dinner  given  in  February,  1908.  On  that 
occasion  an  urn  was  presented  to  Mr.  Davis  which  told 
the  story  of  the  respect  in  which  he  was  held  in  these 
words : 

The  Honorable 

HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

A  TOKEN  OF  LOVE  AND  ESTEEM 

From  his  associates  in  the  Railroad  Service 

Washington,  D.  C,  February  ist,  1908 
Edward  B.  Bacon  Charles  Edmund  Pugh 

William  Abner  Garrett  Charles  L.  Potter 

Oscar  George  Murray  Alexander  Robertson 

William  Nelson  Page  George  F.  Randolph 

James  M.  Schoonmaker 
Henry  Banning  Spencer 
Frederick  D.  Underwood 
Daniel  Willard 

The  last  of  these  railway  dinners  was  given  on  March 
4,  1914,  in  Washington,  when  Mr.  Davis  was  in  his 
ninetieth  year.  It  was  in  honor  of  Daniel  Willard,  pres 
ident  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  for  whom  Mr. 
Davis  entertained  the  highest  respect  as  the  best  type  of 
the  younger  generation  of  railway  presidents  who  were 
grappling  with  the  new  conditions,  economic  and  politi- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  247 

cal,  that  were  developing.  How  deeply  this  sentiment 
was  reciprocated  by  Mr.  Willard  is  apparent  from  an 
autograph  under  a  photograph  of  himself  which  hung 
in  the  Senator's  office:  "From  the  youngest  to  the 
oldest  railway  president." 

Mr.  Davis's  modest  account  of  the  dinner  appears  in 
this  entry : 

March  4,  1914.  My  railway  dinner  to  President  Willard  last 
night  was  a  success;  adjourn  about  twelve  o'clock.  President 
Willard,  Senator  Owen,  Hon.  Oscar  Underwood,  President 
Schoonmaker,  Judge  Parker,  and  President  Rea  spoke. 

The  newspapers  published  a  fuller  story,  mentioning 
the  presence  in  particular  of  Judge  Parker  at  the  board 
of  the  man  who  had  been  his  running  mate  on  the  Pres 
idential  ticket  ten  years  earlier,  and  giving  the  complete 
list  of  the  guests.  These  included  the  leading  railway 
officials  of  the  country,  many  of  them  born  after  Mr. 
Davis  had  reached  middle  age.  Yet  they  were  his  con 
temporaries. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A   SHEAF  OF   LETTERS 

Gleanings  from  many  contemporaries — Political  history  un 
folded  in  correspondence — Senator  Thurman's  expectations  in  the 
famous  Ohio  campaign  of  1875 — George  H.  Pendleton  on  fac 
tional  politics — Many  communications  from  William  Windom — 
Hopes  and  fears  in  the  tragedy  of  Garfield's  life — Comment  from 
Paris  on  parties  and  candidates  in  1884 — European  travel — In 
dignation  over  Elaine  caricatures — Lines  from  Samuel  J.  Ran 
dall  and  Augustus  H.  Garland — West  Virginia  correspondents — 
Appreciation  from  the  two  Goffs — W.  L.  Wilson's  ambition. 

CHAPTERS  of  political  history,  momentous 
events,  are  illumined  vividly  in  letters  written  to 
Mr.  Davis  by  men  of  the  generations  with  which 
he  was  identified.  More  than  a  thousand  of  these  com 
munications  show  how  close  were  his  relations  with  lead 
ing  men  for  more  than  half  a  century.  The  most  inter 
esting  are  those  that  were  penned  before  the  typewriter 
had  come  to  be  the  mechanical  means  of  facilitating  cor 
respondence.  It  was  rarely,  too,  even  in  the  days  be 
fore  the  typewriter,  that  amanuenses  were  resorted  to 
by  his  correspondents.  Statesmen  in  those  days  were 
not  so  pressed  for  time  that  they  were  unable  to  write 
their  own  letters  to  those  who  enjoyed  their  confidence. 
Examination  of  these  contemporary  documents — for 
such  they  are — give  many  glimpses  of  political  occur 
rences  behind  the  scenes.  They  cast  sidelights  on  event 
ful  episodes  of  national  history,  but  they  also  cover  many 
subjects  unrelated  to  politics  and  public  affairs.  They 

248 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  249 

are  evidences  of  the  deep  attachment  felt  for  Mr.  Davis, 
and  they  also  exhibit  the  personal  qualities  of  the  writers. 

Political  correspondence  naturally  fills  a  large  space  in 
this  volume  of  epistolary  literature.  Some  of  it  relates 
to  Mr.  Davis's  own  career  both  in  his  State  and  in  the 
nation,  but  the  larger  part  covers  a  wider  field.  The  re 
liance  placed  on  his  common  sense  and  his  shrewd  judg 
ment  is  evidenced  in  numerous  communications.  There 
is  also  a  sheaf  of  letters  bearing  witness  to  the  frequent 
appeals  made  to  a  man  of  wealth  who  is  in  public  life 
and  who  is  ready  to  forward  the  political  cause  he 
espouses. 

The  close  political  and  personal  relations  between  Sen 
ator  Allen  G.  Thurman  and  Senator  Davis  have  been 
described  in  previous  chapters.  Some  of  the  letters  af 
ford  further  illustrations  of  this  intimacy,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  illuminate  the  politics  of  the  period. 

A  brief  letter  from  Senator  Thurman  gives  a  concise 
forecast  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  episodes  in  Amer 
ican  political  history  and  one  that  was  a  determining  fac 
tor  in  nominating  a  President.  This  relates  to  the  fa 
mous  Ohio  campaign  of  1875,  when  the  soft  money  issue 
was  fought  out  in  a  contest  that  absorbed  the  country 
from  end  to  end.  Judge  Thurman's  uncle,  William  Al 
len,  who  had  served  in  the  Senate,  had  been  elected  Gov 
ernor  of  Ohio  by  the  Democrats  in  the  political  reaction 
of  1873.  This  came  to  him  after  a  long  retirement  to 
private  life.  His  opponents  had  characterized  his  re 
appearance  by  designating  him  as  "Rise-Up  William 
Allen." 

Governor  Allen  had  espoused  the  greenback  cause  and 
made  it  the  leading  issue  in  his  canvass  for  reelection. 
Senator  Thurman,  while  not  fully  in  sympathy  with  the 
greenback  issue,  had  adapted  his  views  to  his  party's 


250  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

stand,  and  was  preparing  to  support  the  ticket.  Before 
the  campaign  was  under  way,  replying  to  an  invitation 
to  visit  West  Virginia,  he  wrote  to  Senator  Davis  from 
Columbus  in  May  as  follows : 

My  dear  Senator: 

Thanks  for  your  invitation.  The  trip  would  give  me  much 
pleasure  could  I  take  it.  But  I  am  engaged  to  speak  next  week 
and  probably  longer  in  Cincinnati  and  must  keep  my  promise. 
We  had  a  glorious  meeting  of  the  leading  Democrats  of  Ohio  here 
last  Thursday,  and  it  will  have  a  good  effect.  We  will  have  a 
hard  fight,  but  we  are  confident  of  carrying  the  State.  The  very 
best  feeling  prevails  in  the  State. 

In  a  letter  just  a  few  days  before  the  election,  that  is, 
on  October  4,  Senator  Thurman  wrote : 

I  think  that  Allen  will  be  elected.  .  .  .  There  never  has  been 
such  a  political  campaign  in  the  U.  S.  The  Rads  are  desperate 
and  it  looks  as  if  they  will  stop  at  nothing. 

Senator  Thurman's  judgment  proved  to  be  wrong. 
After  a  notable  campaign  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was 
elected  over  Governor  Allen,  and  his  election  as  Gov 
ernor  of  Ohio  opened  the  way  for  the  Presidential  nom 
ination  the  following  year  which  brought  him  to  the 
White  House. 

In  1878  it  was  well  understood  that  Senator  Thurman 
would  be  a  candidate  for  the  Presidential  nomination 
two  years  later.  Senator  Davis  had  returned  from  his 
European  trip  and  already  was  interesting  himself  in 
his  friend's  prospects.  Judge  Thurman  wrote  from 
Columbus  under  date  of  August  19: 

I  have  just  received  yours  of  i6th,  and  am  rejoiced  that  you 
have  reached  home  and  are  well.  I  hope  that  you  enjoyed  your 
trip  to  the  Old  World.  I  fear  that  I  will  not  be  able  to  visit  Deer 
Park.  I  do  long  to  make  you  a  visit,  but  the  Democracy  of  Ohio 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  251 

are  inexorable.  They  have  no  mercy  on  me;  so  I  have  to  take 
the  stump.  We  have  some  doubtful  Congressional  districts  that 
ought  not  to  be  doubtful.  But  they  are,  and  the  Democrats  all 
say  that  my  services  in  them  are  necessary.  I  think  that  we  will 
carry  the  State,  but  the  fight  will  be  a  hard  one.  Our  State 
Convention  was  all  I  could  wish.  There  is  no  dissension  here 
now.  As  to  my  speech,  be  assured  it  is  right.  But  we  will  talk 
on  that  when  we  meet.  Give  my  love  to  your  family  and  the 
Elkinses. 

The  social  ties  of  the  two  families  was  evidenced  in  a 
letter  from  Columbus  in  June,  1883: 

My  dear  Davis: 

We  are  heartily  rejoiced  to  know  that  we  are  to  have  a  visit 
from  Mrs.  Davis  and  yourself.  Don't  fail  to  come  and  make  us 
a  good  stay. 

In  later  years  there  were  other  letters  indicating  both 
the  social  and  the  political  intimacy  of  the  two  men. 

Senator  George  H.  Pendleton,  who  entered  the  Sen 
ate  in  1878,  was  also  a  friend  of  Senator  Davis,  and 
while  the  relations  were  not  so  intimate  as  had  been 
those  between  Senator  Thurman  and  Senator  Davis, 
they  were  close  enough  to  be  confidential.  Senator 
Davis,  knowing  from  his  own  experience  the  importance 
of  a  good  seat  in  the  Senate  chamber,  had  taken  care 
to  provide  his  own  for  the  new  Ohio  Senator,  he  him 
self,  following  the  custom,  having  taken  one  vacated  by 
an  outgoing  Senator.  Senator  Pendleton,  in  acknowl 
edging  the  courtesy,  added : 

One  of  the  pleasures  I  feel  in  being  elected  to  the  Senate  is  the 
opportunity  it  will  afford  of  association  with  men  whom  I  have 
known  well  and  have  learned  to  admire,  and  with  none  more  than 
yourself. 

A  passing  view  of  Ohio  factional  politics  is  given  in  a 


252  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

letter  several  years  later  referring  to  a  newspaper  article. 
The  substance  of  this  article  was  that  John  R.  McLean, 
who  controlled  the  powerful  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  had 
made  a  bargain  to  save  Ohio  for  Governor  Cleveland  in 
return  for  the  entire  State  patronage.  Senator  Pen- 
dleton  was  deeply  concerned  over  this  rumor,  as  appears 
from  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Davis  at  Deer  Park  and 
written  from  Cincinnati  on  September  5,  1884: 

I  cut  the  inclosed  from  the  Commercial  Gazette  of  this  city  pur 
porting  to  be  copy  of  an  article  in  the  New  York  Star.  What 
truth  is  there  in  the  reported  "dicker"  between  McLean  and 
Cleveland?  What  foundation  for  the  rumor?  You  know  why 
I  feel  an  interest  in  the  matter,  and  how  closely  I  would  guard 
any  information  you  might  give  me. 

Present  me  kindly  to  the  ladies. 

One  of  President  Cleveland's  first  official  acts  was  to 
nominate  ex-Senator  Pendleton  as  Minister  to  Germany, 
so  that  it  was  clear  that  there  had  been  no  dicker  with 
Editor  McLean  over  the  Ohio  patronage. 

The  warm  friendship  and  the  congenial  tastes  of  Wil 
liam  Windom  and  Henry  G.  Davis  are  shown  in  numer 
ous  letters  from  Mr.  Windom.  They  cover  every  sub 
ject — politics,  business  and  personal  affairs.  Usually 
on  political  questions  when  one  or  the  other  was  absent 
from  the  Senate  they  were  paired.  When  Senator 
Davis  was  a  candidate  before  the  West  Virginia  Legis 
lature  for  reelection  and  there  was  no  prospect  of  elect 
ing  a  Republican,  Senator  Windom  wrote  him  from  the 
Senate  chamber,  January  24,  1877,  this  letter: 

My  dear  Dams: 

As  there  seems  to  be  little  hope  of  our  getting  a  straight  Re 
publican  Senator  from  West  Va.,  I  do  most  heartily  hope  you  may 
be  successful.  If  I  was  a  Rep.  member,  I  would,  under  the  cir 
cumstances,  be  most  happy  to  give  you  my  vote.  Your  services 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  253 

to  the  State  in  the  matter  of  internal  improvements  alone  ought 
to  commend  you  to  both  parties,  and  for  my  part,  thoroughly 
sympathizing  with  your  views  on  that  subject,  I  feel  a  great 
anxiety  for  your  reelection.  Hoping  that  the  telegraph  to-day 
will  announce  the  pleasant  intelligence  that  we  are  to  have  you 
with  us  six  years  longer,  I  remain, 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

WILLIAM  WINDOM. 

After  Senator  Windom  entered  President  Garfield's 
Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  many  letters  were 
exchanged  with  Senator  Davis.  In  several  of  these 
communications  the  overshadowing  national  gloom 
caused  by  the  assassin's  bullet  is  reflected,  although  at 
times  there  is  a  cheerful  note  due  to  the  temporary  favor 
able  condition  of  the  patient.  In  reply  to  an  invitation 
from  Senator  Davis  to  come  to  Deer  Park  with  his  fam 
ily,  Secretary  Windom  on  August  10,  1881,  wrote: 

It  would  be  exceedingly  pleasant  to  do  so,  but  I  think  it  will  be 
impossible  to  get  away.  The  President's  condition  compels  me  to 
remain  here.  ...  I  am  not  pleased  with  the  President's  recent 
condition,  though  the  doctors  seem  to  think  that  there  is  in  it  no 
cause  for  serious  anxiety.  They  report  that  he  is  doing  very 
well  to-day,  and  I  am  still  hopeful  of  his  continued  improvement. 

Two  weeks  later  the  growing  hope  that  President  Gar- 
field  was  past  the  danger  point  was  indicated  in  a  letter 
from  Secretary  Windom  saying: 

I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  President's  condition  is  still 
very  favorable.  He  has  not  gained  much  strength  and  not  made 
any  very  great  apparent  progress,  but  he  is  holding  his  own,  and 
the  doctors  think  that  in  a  few  days  he  will  begin  to  show  a 
marked  change  for  the  better.  We  are  all  now  very  hopeful. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Senator  Davis  that  if  the  stricken 
President  could  be  removed  to  the  bracing  mountain  air 
of  Deer  Park  his  chances  of  recovery  would  be  improved. 


254  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

John  W.  Garrett,  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
was  of  the  same  opinion.  They  arranged  to  provide 
every  comfort  possible  to  facilitate  the  railway  journey 
and  to  care  for  the  distinguished  patient  after  he  should 
arrive  at  Deer  Park.  Their  plan  was  communicated  to 
Secretary  Windom  in  a  letter  from  Senator  Davis  mailed 
on  September  2.  Replying  on  the  following  day,  Secre 
tary  Windom  wrote : 

I  will  take  pleasure  in  presenting  the  very  kind  offer  of  your 
self  and  Mr.  Garrett  to  the  President's  surgeons  for  their  con 
sideration.  I  think  it  is  undecided  yet  to  what  place  they  will 
move  him,  or  when  it  will  be  done.  My  impression  is  that  they 
intend  to  make  the  change  as  soon  as  his  condition  permits,  but 
fear  that  at  present  he  is  too  weak.  There  has  been  but  little 
change  in  him  during  the  last  two  or  three  days,  though  the  doc 
tors  still  speak  cheerfully  of  the  prospect. 

The  doctors  ultimately  decided  that  the  seashore  would 
be  better  than  the  mountains,  and  President  Garfield's 
removal  to  Elberon  was  accomplished.  Later  it  was 
known  that  neither  mountain  air  nor  ocean  air  could 
have  saved  him. 

Secretary  Windom's  temporary  retirement  from  pub 
lic  life  did  not  lessen  his  interest  in  political  affairs.  H* 
wrote  to  Senator  Davis  from  his  home  at  Winona  in 
Minnesota  on  September  22,  1882: 

My  dear  Dams: 

It  seems  an  age  since  I  have  heard  from  you.  How  are  you? 
How  are  the  political  elements  shaping?  Shall  you  come  back  to 
the  Senate  ?  How  is  our  West  Virginia  Central  enterprise  show 
ing  up?  Is  there  anything  new  about  the  Coal  and  Iron?  Tell 
me  all  you  know  about  everything,  and  especially  about  yourself 
and  family. 

I  am  having  a  disagreeable  political  contest  in  my  own  party, 
aided  by  a  few  of  the  Satanic  class  in  the  Democratic  party. 
The  respectable  portion  of  your  party  is  friendly.  Dunnell  and 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  255 

the  Devil  let  loose  all  the  liars  who  are  not  otherwise  employed  on 
me,  but  I  shall  beat  them  unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken  in  the 
temper  of  my  own  people.  .  .  .  How  I  should  enjoy  a  week  or 
two  with  you  in  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia ! 

Mr.  Windom  with  his  family  visited  Europe  in  the 
spring  of  1884.  He  corresponded  with  Mr.  Davis  about 
many  subjects,  sometimes  also  giving  his  impressions  of 
life  abroad.  In  a  long  letter  from  Paris,  dated  April  2, 
1884,  he  wrote: 

My  dear  Davis: 

I  am  inclined  to  think  you  are  even  a  worse  correspondent  than 
myself,  as  I  wrote  you  about  three  months  ago  and  have  received 
no  reply.  I  presume  you  are  very  busy,  as  usual,  but  you  must 
not  be  permitted  to  forget  your  old  friends  and  I  will  therefore 
write  again.  We  returned  to  Paris  last  Saturday  from  our  Italian 
trip  in  excellent  health  and  spirits.  I  need  not  say  we  had  a  grand 
good  time,  for  no  one  can  visit  southern  Italy  without  enjoying 
it,  always  providing  that  the  fever  doesn't  get  hold  of  him. 

We  spent  two  weeks  in  Naples  and  about  the  same  time  in 
Rome,  and  two  more  industrious  people  you  never  saw.  We 
penetrated  the  depths  of  the  catacombs,  and  climbed  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  and  did  all  sorts  of  things  which 
travelers  are  expected  to  do  in  that  country.  The  weather  was 
delightful  during  the  entire  two  months — only  one  rainy  day,  and 
even  that  did  not  keep  us  indoors. 

I  feel  now  that  my  mission  as  a  "tourist"  is  substantially  ended, 
and  I  want  to  go  home  and  be  at  work  again.  I  shall  go  to  Lon 
don  in  about  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  probably  remain  in  England 
during  the  month  of  May. 

I  saw  our  friend  Gov.  Hendricks  day  before  yesterday.  He 
sails  to-morrow  for  New  York.  He  seems  to  be  laboring  under 
what  my  old  colleague,  Col.  Aldrich,  used  to  call  "a  mental  hallu 
cination  of  the  mind"  which  inspires  him  with  a  belief  that  the 
Democracy  will  win  at  the  next  election.  Are  you  afflicted  in  the 
same  way  still? 

Who  are  you  going  to  nominate,  and  who  are  we  going  to 
elect?  These  may  be  hard  questions,  but  you  are  good  at  con- 


256  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

undrums.  From  all  I  can  see  in  the  papers  I  should  say  that 
Elaine's  friends  are  most  active  in  our  party.  Logan's  boom  does 
not  seem  to  have  a  very  healthy  growth.  Your  people  keep  very 
quiet,  but  I  suspect  there  is  a  good  deal  going  on  beneath  the 
surface.  The  tariff  seems  to  be  troubling  the  Democracy  a  little 
just  now,  but  I  have  great  faith  in  their  combining  capacity. 

I  have  seen  about  enough  of  the  Old  World  for  the  present, 
and  shall  be  very  happy  to  get  back  to  a  live  country  where  the 
people  speak  the  English  language  even  if  they  do  not  always  tell 
the  truth  in  political  matters.  I  am  thoroughly  rested  and  feel  a 
good  deal  more  like  working  than  playing,  but  I  have  no  desire 
to  reenter  the  political  field.  .  .  . 

I  would  give  all  my  interest  in  Europe  for  a  chat  with  you 
to-day.  The  fact  is,  when  I  think  of  you  and  a  few  others  of  my 
good  friends,  I  am  homesick. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Davis  seems  to  have  crossed  the  one 
from  Mr.  Windom.  Writing  again  from  Paris  under 
date  of  May  12,  Mr.  Windom  acknowledged  this  letter, 
and,  after  discussing  business  matters  of  mutual  interest, 
referred  to  the  business  uncertainty  in  the  United  States 
and  the  effect  in  England.  He  also  wrote  with  his  cus 
tomary  freedom  regarding  politics : 

The  recent  conspicuous  failures  in  America  have  so  alarmed 
everybody  on  this  side  that  it  is  quite  impossible  just  now  to  do 
anything  with  American  enterprises.  Money  is  very  plenty  and 
very  cheap,  but  confidence  seems  to  be  entirely  destroyed.  I 
know  of  a  large  loan  in  London  at  the  rate  of  one  half  of  one 
per  cent,  per  annum  simply  because  no  one  is  willing  to  invest  in 
anything.  What  are  we  coming  to  at  home?  Is  the  bottom 
falling  out  entirely?  From  this  distance  it  looks  as  if  we  are  to 
have  a  grand  smash-up. 

I  read  the  New  York  newspapers  quite  regularly,  but  I  do  not 
see  the  way  out  of  the  present  tangle  in  either  political  party. 
The  abuse  of  our  friend  Elaine  is  outrageous  and  ought  to  make 
him  hosts  of  friends.  When  I  saw  the  caricature  in  Puck  posted 
on  the  Strand  in  London  the  other  day,  I  felt  like  taking  the  next 
steamer  for  home  to  go  to  work  for  Blaine.  I  refer  to  the  "Dime 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  257 

Show,"  in  which  B.  is  represented  as  the  "tatooed  man."     I  hope 
he  will  prosecute  the  scoundrels  who  got  it  up. 

I  do  not  venture  any  prophecy  as  to  who  will  be  the  nominees 
on  our  side.  Elaine  seems  to  be  the  strongest,  as  usual,  but  the 
rest  will  probably  combine  against  him.  I  believe  your  party  will 
nominate  Tilden  if  he  can  be  "held  together"  until  the  convention 
meets. 

Incidental  glimpses  of  political  affairs  are  afforded  in 
various  letters  from  public  men  with  whom  Mr.  Davis 
was  on  friendly  terms  without  their  relations  being  in 
timate.  Samuel  J.  Randall  wrote  him  from  his  home  in 
Pennsylvania  during  the  Congressional  campaign  of 
1882,  referring  apparently  to  the  necessity  of  getting  two 
candidates  to  forego  their  rival  candidacies  within  the 
party: 

You  can  do  more  than  any  other  man  to  bring  peace.  Excuse 
my  troubling  you ;  it  is  for  our  cause.  ...  I  had  a  visit  a  day 
or  two  ago  from  Honorable  James  Hagerman  of  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
who  gives  an  encouraging  account  of  that  State  as  to  Congres 
sional  candidates  in  five  or  six  districts.  He  needed  and  asked 
only  encouragement.  I  favor  such  an  invasion  where  our  enemy 
does  not  expect  us.  Atkins'  speech  is  able  and  ought  to  be  circu 
lated,  and  also  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  speaker.  Read  it. 

Augustus  H.  Garland  of  Arkansas,  who  became  At 
torney-General  in  President  Cleveland's  administration, 
had  served  with  Mr.  Davis  in  the  Senate  and  had  been 
in  sympathy  with  his  conservative  views  on  various  sub 
jects.  After  the  Chicago  Convention  in  July,  1884,  he 
wrote  a  brief  note : 

Dear  Uncle  Henry: 

After  the  good  glorious  work  at  Chicago  in  which  you  cut  no 
small  figure,  I  feel  compelled  to  drop  you  a  word  or  two.  When 
I  saw  your  name  on  the  Committee  on  Platform  I  was  satisfied 
we  would  have  a  liberal,  conservative  document,  and  I  was  not 


258  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

disappointed.     Everything  starts  admirably  and  I   feel  satisfied 
we  will  win.     If  we  do  not  now  I  fear  we  never  will. 

Mr.  Davis's  position  as  the  political  chief  of  his  party 
in  West  Virginia  for  so  many  years  naturally  resulted 
in  a  very  large  volume  of  correspondence  with  political 
leaders  and  lieutenants  in  the  State.  But  not  all  of  it 
was  of  a  partizan  character  or  came  from  members  of 
his  own  party.  Nathan  Goff,  Jr.,  with  whom  he  had 
served  in  the  Legislature,  on  retiring  from  the  office  of 
United  States  District  Attorney,  in  June,  1882,  wrote 
him: 

I  desire  to  thank  you  for  your  uniform  and  continued  kindness 
to  me  in  official,  business,  and  social  matters.  ...  It  is  hard  to 
sever  pleasant  official  relations,  and  it  has  been  hard  for  me  to 
conclude  to  do  so ;  but  my  personal  affairs  and  the  business  inter 
ests  of  my  family  require  it,  and  to  it  and  them  I  yield. 

Will  you  hand  this  to  Senator  Camden  to  read,  and  assure  him 
that  I  remember  and  appreciate  his  kindness  to  me.  Both  of  you 
have  been  kind  to  me  at  times  and  under  circumstances  when  it 
was  not  only  pleasant  but  most  beneficial  to  me,  and  I  shall  ever 
treasure  the  memory  of  it  and  be  grateful. 

A  year  later,  when  Senator  Davis  had  announced  his 
intention  to  retire  from  the  United  States  Senate,  the 
news  was  received  with  regret  by  another  Goff,  a  political 
opponent,  but  also  a  personal  friend.  This  was  the 
venerable  Nathan  Goff,  Sr.,  the  uncle  of  the  foregoing 
writer,  who  had  been  Mr.  Davis's  mentor  when  he  first 
entered  the  West  Virginia  Assembly.  Writing  from 
Clarksburg,  under  date  of  January  10,  1883,  in  a  trem 
bling  hand,  and  addressing  Senator  Davis  as  my  "old 
friend/'  Nathan  Goff,  Sr.,  said: 

I  am  very  desirous  that  you  shall  again  be  elected  U.  S.  Senator 
to  succeed  yourself.  I  much  prefer  you  to  any  of  the  candidates 
mentioned,  and  I  think  the  good  of  the  State  and  a  majority  of  its 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  259 

people  wish  and  desire  that  you  shall  again  be  their  representative. 
So  I  hope  you  will  pardon  an  old  friend  for  the  liberty  of  making 
a  suggestion  to  you.  I  would  say  step  squarely  out  and  say  to 
our  Legislature  that  you  will  serve  them.  I  am  quite  feeble; 
some  three  years  ago  I  had  a  slight  stroke  of  paralysis  and  have 
never  entirely  recovered  from  it. 

Though  in  the  later  years  of  the  career  of  William  L. 
Wilson  his  path  diverged  from  that  of  Mr.  Davis,  they 
had  worked  together  in  their  party  activities,  and  Mr. 
Wilson  was  an  occasional  correspondent  of  Senator 
Davis.  He  wrote  the  Senator  from  Charlestown,  under 
date  of  September  13,  1880,  regarding  some  rumors  that 
were  afloat : 

The  result  at  Berkeley  Springs  explodes  the  rumor  to  which  I 
called  your  attention.  ...  I  do  not  know  how  things  will  turn 
out  to-morrow ;  it  will  at  least  show  whether  there  was  any  bar 
gain  at  the  Senatorial  convention.  I  shall  have  the  solid  support 
of  this  county  if  there  is  no  foul  play,  and  am  not  greatly  exercised 
over  result  anyway.  If  I  am  not  nominated  and  the  prospects 
are  not  too  encouraging,  I  hope  to  do  some  campaigning  with  you. 

Nearly  a  year  later,  on  June  28,  1881,  Mr.  Wilson 
wrote : 

Dear  Senator: 

I  see  from  the  Baltimore  Sun  of  yesterday  that  your  little 
railroad  is  about  to  enter  upon  a  very  wide  and  ambitious  career, 
and  I  judge  from  the  men  enlisted  in  the  enterprise  that  it  means 
business  and  is  something  more  than  the  newspaper  railroads  now 
springing  up  over  our  State.  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the  unde 
veloped  resources  of  West  Virginia,  and  that  those  who  have  the 
money  and  sagacity  to  develop  them  will  not  fail  of  immense  re 
turns  ;  and  so  ever  since  reading  the  notice  in  the  Sun  I  have  been 
thinking  that  perhaps  in  your  projected  enterprise  I  might  some 
where  find  an  opening  to  better  my  fortunes  and  at  the  same  time 
serve  some  useful  purpose  in  the  work, 


2<5o  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

When  Mr.  Wilson  became  president  of  the  West  Vir 
ginia  University  at  Morgantown,  Senator  Davis  wrote 
asking  him  to  recommend  a  young  man  who  could  serve 
as  a  secretary  and  instructor.  This  Mr.  Wilson  did  in 
a  most  kindly  letter,  explaining  that  the  young  man  he 
recommended  was  one  of  the  many  at  the  University  who 
were  struggling  to  get  a  good  education  through  diffi 
culties  and  to  whom  the  compensation  would  be  a  great 
lift. 

In  the  campaign  of  1886  a  number  of  letters  were  ex 
changed  between  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Wilson,  who  was 
then  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  From  Charles- 
town,  under  date  of  September  30,  Mr.  Wilson  wrote: 

My  dear  Senator: 

I  am  just  about  to  start  for  Moorefield  by  buggy ;  am  sorry  you 
cannot  be  with  me.  I  am  anxious  for  you  to  make  your  speech 
and  publish  it  as  a  campaign  document.  Berkeley  court  is  Octo 
ber  1 2th,  and  I  have  written  Parks,  chairman  of  the  County  Com 
mittee,  suggesting  that  he  have  you  there  on  that  day.  Possibly 
also  Kenna  will  be  there,  or  send  someone  from  Washington. 
You  can  be  of  great  service  to  me  in  Tucker  County,  I  expect.  I 
want  to  visit  both  Elk  Garden  and  Davis  before  the  election.  We 
must  have  you  at  Charlestown  during  the  canvass. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MORE   LETTERS 

Benjamin  Harrison's  request  for  advice  on  investments — 
Grover  Cleveland's  explanation  of  a  misunderstanding — Senator 
Gorman  on  prospects  and  results  in  1904 — Thomas  F.  Bayard's 
illuminating  correspondence — Spoils  system  responsible  for  Gar- 
field's  assassination — Views  on  his  own  campaign  for  the  nom 
ination  in  1884 — Tilden  and  the  rise  of  the  literary  bureau — 
Maintenance  of  principles — Manly  comment  on  the  Chicago  Con 
vention — Abhorrence  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler's  labor  movement — 
Tribute  to  Mr.  Davis's  work  in  developing  West  Virginia's  re 
sources — The  last  letter — Some  piquant  notes  from  Andrew  Car 
negie. 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON  was  an  occasional  cor 
respondent  of  Mr.  Davis.  He,  however,  pre 
ferred  personal  conference  to  letter-writing 
when  public  affairs  were  to  be  considered,  although  in  a 
few  instances  after  his  retirement  from  the  Presidency 
he  wrote  his  views  confidentially  on  current  topics  with 
considerable  freedom.  But  the  majority  of  the  letters 
relate  to  personal  or  business  affairs.  A  characteristic 
note  was  one  sent  from  Indianapolis  in  June,  1883,  in 
relation  to  an  expected  visit  from  Senator  and  Mrs. 
Davis.  It  exhibits  the  warm  side  of  General  Harrison's 
nature : 

Yours  of  the  8th  instant  came  this  morning.  We  are  all  very 
pleased  to  hear  that  you  and  Mrs.  D.  can  give  us  the  long-promised 
visit.  We  are  all  at  home ;  have  got  through  house-cleaning  and 
are  in  an  attitude  of  waiting  for  you.  So  come  and  bring  Katie 
along  too ; — plenty  of  room.  Let  me  know  when  you  will  arrive. 

261 


262  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

General  Harrison's  confidence  in  the  business  judg 
ment  of  Mr.  Davis  was  profound,  and  he  sought  the 
Senator's  advice  on  investments  of  which  he  confessed 
himself  a  poor  judge.  It  was  at  his  own  insistence  that 
the  investment  was  made  for  him  in  Senator  Davis's 
principal  railway  enterprise.  From  the  correspondence, 
Mr.  Davis  apparently  hesitated  to  take  the  responsibil 
ity  of  suggesting  his  own  properties,  and  a  check  for 
warded  from  Indianapolis  by  General  Harrison  was  re 
turned;  but  ultimately  the  investment  was  made  as  re 
quested.  Writing  from  Indianapolis  on  January  19, 
1895,  General  Harrison  said: 

My  dear  Senator: 

I  wrote  to  Elkins  some  time  ago  asking  him  whether  the  new 
railroad  was  making  any  progress  and  when  you  would  have  your 
securities  ready,  but  have  not  heard  from  him.  I  suppose  he  has 
been  so  much  absorbed  in  the  Senatorial  contest — which  I  see  is 
practically  ended  in  his  favor — that  he  has  not  had  time  to  write. 
A  paragraph  which  came  to  my  notice  indicates  that  your  organi 
zation  has  been  effected,  and  that  the  older  companies  have  in 
dorsed  the  bonds  of  the  new  company.  I  have  something  more 
than  twenty  thousand  dollars  on  hand,  and  have  been  seeking  an 
investment  for  it.  If  your  securities  are  not  to  be  issued  soon  I 
will  make  some  temporary  use  of  the  money  so  as  to  get  some 
interest  on  it,  but  if  they  are  I  will  be  glad  to  take  the  thirty 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  your  bonds  as  you  suggested.  The 
balance  of  the  money  I  can  probably  pay  before  long. 

General  Harrison's  satisfaction  with  the  transaction 
as  arranged  for  him  by  Mr.  Davis  was  indicated  in  an 
other  letter  from  Indianapolis  under  date  of  January  26  : 

My  dear  Senator: 

Your  letter  of  the  22d  came  last  week,  and  was  forwarded  to  me 
at  Richmond,  where  I  have  been  engaged  for  a  month  in  the 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  263 

trial  of  an  important  will  case,  which  promises  to  hold  on  for  an 
other  month,  much  to  my  dismay ;  as  I  did  not  contemplate  a  trial 
that  would  last  over  a  month.  I  have  concluded  to  take  the  West 
Virginia  bonds  which  you  offer,  and  inclose  you  S.  A.  Fletcher  & 
Co/s  draft  on  N.  Y.  to  my  order,  indorsed  to  you,  for  twenty 
thousand  ($20,000)  dollars. 

I  can  arrange  with  you  the  matter  of  any  accumulated  interest 
on  the  bonds,  if  you  will  state  the  account  to  me.  This  check 
represents  all  that  I  can  spare  from  my  account  just  now;  and 
while  it  does  not  pay  for  an  even  number  of  bonds  at  the  price 
you  name — 107 — you  can  so  keep  the  account  as  to  show  what  my 
investment  is.  You  may  just  put  the  bonds  up  in  an  envelope 
with  an  indorsement  that  they  belong  to  me,  and  keep  them  in 
your  safety  deposit  vault.  It  will  hardly  be  worth  while  to  send 
them  out  here,  if  they  are  likely  to  be  exchanged  in  the  spring  for 
the  securities  of  the  new  road. 

We  were  all  glad  to  see  that  Mr.  Elkins'  election  went  off  so 
harmoniously  and  unanimously. 

I  envy  you  and  the  rest  your  trip  to  Mexico,  as  we  are  having 
extremely  changeable  weather;  from  mildness  to  zero  in  less 
than  twenty-four  hours  being  a  frequent  occurrence  in  the  last 
two  weeks.  When  you  come  to  add  to  this  living  for  two  months 
at  a  poor  hotel  and  spending  seven  hours  and  a  half  a  day  in  the 
court-room,  you  have  a  partial  picture  of  my  sufferings. 

Mrs.  McKee  and  the  children  fortunately  continue  well,  and 
join  me  in  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Davis,  Kate,  and  Grace. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

BENJ.  HARRRISON. 

President  Cleveland  occasionally  wrote  Mr.  Davis  on 
political  matters.  A  misunderstanding  on  one  occasion, 
when  apparently  Mr.  Davis  went  to  the  White  House  to 
keep  an  appointment  with  President  Cleveland  about 
some  political  matter  and  was  not  received,  was  cleared 
away  in  Mr.  Davis's  usual  direct  manner  by  asking  for 
an  explanation.  The  incident  is  indicated  in  an  auto 
graph  letter  from  Mr.  Cleveland : 


264  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 

June  4,  1887. 
My  dear  Sir: 

Colonel  Lamont  surprised  me  very  much  to-day  by  telling  me 
the  purport  of  your  conversation  with  him.  I  think  it  is  the  first 
instance  of  the  kind  ever  presented  to  me,  and  I  feel  especially  an 
noyed  that  it  should  relate  to  you,  whose  kindness  and  friendship 
has  been  so  marked  and  constant. 

I  am  often  perplexed  and  often  overwhelmed  with  visitors, 
sometimes  engaged  with  public  business  which  cannot  be  post 
poned  or  interrupted,  but  the  circumstances  would  be  very  un 
usual  which  would  prevent  me  from  seeing  you.  I  am  afraid  the 
matter  to  which  you  have  referred  has  occurred  through  my  over 
sight  or  inadvertence  at  a  time  when  I  was  unusually  vexed  and 
troubled  with  other  matters.  I  certainly  have  no  remembrance 
of  the  occasion. 

I  hope  I  need  not  say  to  you  that  I  am  at  all  times  glad  to  see 
you,  and  that  I  should  be  very  much  grieved  if  you  should  think 
otherwise. 

I  hope  you  will  call  the  next  time  you  are  in  the  city.  We  often 
recalled  our  stay  at  Deer  Park  during  the  anniversary  time  of 
our  marriage,  and  with  it  we  recalled  your  kindness  too. 

Yours  sincerely, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
Hon.  Henry  G.  Davis, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

A  penciled  memorandum  on  Mr.  Cleveland's  letter  in 
the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Davis  notes  that  he  answered 
saying  he  highly  appreciated  the  communication. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  letters  from  his  kinsman, 
Arthur  Pue  Gorman,  two  may  be  quoted  which  relate  to 
comparatively  recent  political  events.  They  give  a  con 
temporary  view  of  the  national  campaign  in  which  Mr. 
Davis  was  the  candidate  for  Vice-President.  One  was 
written  just  before  the  election  and  the  other  just 
after  it. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  265 

Fifth  Avenue  Hotel, 
Madison  Square,  New  York. 

Nov.  2,  1904. 
My  dear  Friend: 

I  received  your  letter  upon  my  arrival  here  last  night  and  note 
all  you  say  about  West  Virginia.  .  .  .  You  have  no  idea  as  to  the 
confidence  of  Judge  Parker  and  Mr.  Sheahan  in  the  outcome. 
They  have  absolutely  no  question  about  New  York,  and  New 
Jersey,  but  they  think  Connecticut  can  also  be  carried.  Alto 
gether  they  are  in  a  very  hopeful  mood,  and  we  certainly  have 
the  Republicans  on  the  defensive,  the  current  running  strongly  in 
our  favor.  My  own  judgment  is  that  we  will  poll  our  full 
vote,  and  it  looks  as  if  we  will  be  great  gainers  by  the  dissatisfac 
tion  in  the  Republican  party. 

I  want  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  wonderful  contest  you  have 
made.  I  hear  from  mutual  friends  you  have  not  overtaxed  your 
self  and  are  quite  well.  I  trust  you  will  come  out  of  it  in  the 
best  condition. 

Writing  a  week  later,  Senator  Gorman  said : 

I  confess  the  result  is  a  very  great  surprise  to  me,  as  it  is  to 
everybody  who  watched  the  contest. 

However,  it  is  all  over,  and  the  immense  majority  against  us 
all  along  the  line  shows  the  American  people  have  determined 
that  the  President  shall  have  another  term.  On  the  surface  it 
looked  as  if  our  party  were  united,  but  it  is  evident  it  is  not  so 
with  the  rank  and  file. 

Disagreeable  as  the  result  is,  I  know  you  well  enough  to  know 
you  will  accept  it  without  worry,  as  you  do  everything.  You 
made  a  grand,  indeed  memorable,  fight  for  our  party,  but  the  odds 
were  too  great  to  be  overcome. 

Something  of  the  intimacy  between  Henry  G.  Davis 
and  Thomas  F.  Bayard  has  been  told  in  the  preceding 
pages.  The  correspondence  extending  through  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  is  further  evidence  of  it. 
Mr.  Bayard  wrote  freely  on  business  and  on  personal  and 
political  matters.  Some  of  his  letters  are  vitally  illus 


266  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

trative  of  his  own  high  character  and  his  lofty  convic 
tions.  Writing  on  July  3,  1881,  concerning  a  proposed 
visit  to  West  Virginia,  and  referring  to  a  previous  letter, 
Mr.  Bayard  said: 

I  write  under  the  shock  and  depression  caused  by  the  wild  and 
wicked  attempt  to  murder  the  President.  .  .  .  This  assault  upon 
Garfield  shocks  me,  and  it  really  appears  to  be  the  natural  results 
of  the  demoralizing  and  corrupting  influence  of  the  "spoils"  sys 
tem  of  machine  politics.  The  letters  of  the  assassin  are  like  those 
of  a  Russian  nihilist,  and  something  heretofore  unheard  of  in 
America. 

May  Heaven  avert  the  evil  results  which  the  death  of  Garfield 
would  expose  our  country  to.  The  consequences  of  turning  over 
the  executive  powers  to  the  wing  of  the  party  who  have  been  at 
such  bitter  variance  with  the  administration  loom  up  darkly  on 
every  side. 

As  I  write  (3  P.  M.  Sunday)  bulletins  are  more  encouraging. 

A  sensational  political  episode  was  briefly  adverted  to 
by  Mr.  Bayard  in  a  letter  from  Wilmington  dated  April 
22,  1883.  The  occasion  was  a  dinner  given  by  the  Iro- 
quois  Club  of  Chicago,  the  leading  Democratic  organiza 
tion  of  the  West,  at  which  Mr.  Bayard  was  the  principal 
speaker.  In  the  morning  hours  Mayor  Carter  Harrison, 
in  responding  to  a  toast,  took  occasion  to  controvert  the 
tariff  views  which  Mr.  Bayard  had  expressed  and  to 
declare  the  Democratic  party  could  not  carry  the  country 
on  such  a  platform.  Mayor  Harrison  was  a  very  force 
ful  personality  with  an  unexcelled  faculty  for  securing 
publicity.  At  that  period  he  filled  as  much  space  in  the 
newspapers  as  did  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Bayard  wrote  of  this  incident  to  Senator  Davis : 

I  had  hoped  to  have  seen  you  and  told  you  about  Chicago.  I 
think  the  Iroquois  Club  dinner  was  a  success,  although  it  seems 
to  have  disagreed  with  our  Republican  friends  and  their  news- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  267 

papers.  In  fact,  we  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any  general  Dem 
ocratic  press  in  the  United  States.  Here  and  there  is  a  Dem 
ocratic  newspaper,  but  in  Chicago,  for  instance,  there  is  none. 
The  Chicago  Times,  which  is  not  a  Republican  organ,  is  as  little  a 
Democratic  organ,  and  perhaps  injures  us  more  than  if  it  was  an 
avowed  Republican.  Carter  Harrison,  the  Mayor,  made  a  silly 
and  very  uncivil  harangue  at  the  end  of  the  dinner,  which  mystified 
our  hosts.  It  was  seized  upon  by  the  Republican  press  and  pub 
lished  as  a  "bombshell,"  etc.,  but  it  amounted  to  nothing. 

Senator  Bayard  was  an  active  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dential  nomination  in  1884.  His  friends  were  well  or 
ganized,  but  the  Tilden  influence  was  hostile.  A  reverse 
in  the  preliminary  campaign  in  West  Virginia  brought 
forth  a  notable  letter  on  political  methods — the  literary 
bureau — that  have  since  become  common. 

Referring  to  the  inability  of  Mr.  Davis  to  secure  the 
West  Virginia  delegation  for  him,  Senator  Bayard  wrote 
from  the  Senate  chamber  under  date  of  April  9,  1884: 

My  dear  Dazns: 

I  have  your  note  of  yesterday  informing  me  that  the  local  con 
ventions  in  West  Virginia  had  declared  in  favor  of  Mr.  Tilden's 
nomination  at  Chicago.  I  had  seen  the  statement  in  the  New 
York  Times  a  day  or  two  previous. 

Do  not,  my  good  friend,  let  this  action  disturb  you — at  least  not 
on  my  account.  We  ought,  as  sensible  men,  to  accept  the  situa 
tion,  and  if,  from  any  cause  or  number  of  causes,  a  genuine  sen 
timent  pervades  our  party  in  favor  of  nominating  the  "old  ticket" ; 
it  will  control  the  convention,  and  /  for  one  shall  not  obstruct  it. 

It  is  perfectly  clear  also  that  Mr.  Tilden  has  not  as  yet  objected 
to  it,  whatever  he  may  have  done  to  promote  it.  No  such  per 
sonal  organization  ever  existed  in  this  country  as  that  which  he 
carefully  and  elaborately  has  built  up  since  his  canvass  for  the 
office  of  Governor  of  New  York  until  now.  His  "literary 
bureau"  I  believe  is  still  maintained,  and  I  do  not  care  to  give  an 
accurate  definition  of  that,  but  it  results  in  a  purchased  and  paid- 
for  expression  in  favor  of  the  owner  of  the  bureau. 


268  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Now,  my  good  friend,  you  know  how  entirely  outside  of  my 
capacity  or  personal  methods  is  such  a  system.  I  have  no  reliance 
upon  anything  to  give  me  high  office  but  the  belief  of  my  country 
men  that  I  have  the  wish  and  the  ability  to  serve  them  intelligently 
and  faithfully. 

To  represent  a  party  animated  and  controlled  by  srch  beliefs 
and  such  objects  would  be  an  honor  that  no  man  would  value  more 
highly  than  I,  and  even  in  defeat  there  would  be  the  solace  of 
self-respect.  Really  I  do  not  want,  nor  can  I  logically  or  reason 
ably  expect,  to  receive  a  nomination  at  the  hands  of  a  set  of  dele 
gates  who,  looking  the  facts  of  the  present  and  the  history  of  the 
near  past  squarely  in  the  face,  approve  of  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Tilden,  or  to  place  the  nomination  subject  to  his  wishes  either 
to  accept  it  for  himself  or  control  it  in  favor  of  anyone  he  de 
sires. 

I  am  unable  to  believe  that  Mr.  Tilden's  physical  condition  ren 
ders  it  possible  for  him  even  to  contemplate  the  assumption  of  the 
labor  of  a  canvass,  much  less  the  duties  of  the  Chief  Magistrate. 
Unless  I  am  wholly  mistaken,  he  is  too  feeble  in  health  to  under 
take  labor  of  any  kind. 

Therefore,  the  movement  to  send  delegates  to  nominate  him  is 
in  fact  a  mere  cover  to  nominate  someone  to  be  approved  by  him. 
It  would  be  a  Tilden  convention,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  logically 
none  but  Tilden  men  ought  to  have  their  names  placed  before  it. 

For  one,  I  am  sure  I  do  not  and  would  not  justly  represent  such 
a  convention  in  the  wishes  and  opinion  of  those  who  selected  and 
sent  them  there,  and  there-fore  my  name  ought  not  to  be  placed 
before  them. 

Profession,  promises,  and  platform  all  depend  in  the  end  upon 
the  personal  character  of  the  individual  chosen  to  represent  and 
carry  them  into  execution. 

I  expect  to  go  along  as  you  have  heretofore  seen  me,  trying 
hard  to  find  out  the  paths  of  honor  and  prosperity  to  our  country 
and  to  point  them  out  to  our  countrymen.  This  has  gained  me 
the  confidence  and  good  will  of  men  like  you,  and  as  I  value  that 
I  shall  endeavor  to  retain  it. 

As  the  Democratic  National  Convention  drew  near, 
Senator  Bayard  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis  freely  and  fre- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  269 

quently  concerning  his  prospects.     From   the   Senate 
chamber  on  June  19  he  wrote : 

On  Monday  we  will  meet  at  my  house  at  dinner  and  have  a  free 
conference.  I  have  written  to  Travers,  and  McPherson  goes  to 
New  York  to-day  and  will  learn  how  matters  stand  there.  What 
the  result  of  the  Saratoga  Convention  really  is  I  do  not  presume 
to  know,  but  I  can  see  a  restoration  of  ancient  forces  in  the 
presence  of  Belmont,  Travers,  and  Kelly  to  delegateships.  Hew 
itt  met  me  to-day  (he  is  a  delegate)  and  told  me  he  would  make 
me  President  of  the  United  States  in  preference  to  any  living  man. 
(Whether  he  would  say  so  an  hour  hence  is  doubtful.) 

Gorman  is  coming  on  Monday. 

Writing  under  date  of  June  27,  Senator  Bayard  said : 

Gorman  told  me  all  about  New  York,  which  is  a  curious  pool 
for  me  to  be  fishing  in,  and  I  feel  it  quite  impossible  to  prognosti 
cate  anything  of  the  results. 

I  confess  it  made  my  flesh  creep  to  know  that  you  and  Mc 
Pherson  had  been  in  consultation  with  Butler,  of  whom  I  enter 
tain  the  most  profound  distrust  and  constant  apprehension.  Of 
course,  I  know  a  great  party  must  contain  all  kind  of  elements, 
and  there  is  no  use  in  driving  those  you  disapprove  into  oppo 
sition,  but  the  fact  remains  that  principles  must  be  maintained  and 
not  departed  from  under  the  name  of  pretense  of  an  alliance  with 
the  foes  of  principle. 

Now  as  to  the  selection  of  a  delegate  to  present  name  to  the 
convention.  You  suggest  Judge  Thurman,  and  I  need  not  say 
how  delighted  and  honored  I  would  be  to  have  him  do  it,  but  I 
can  scarcely  think  it  practicable  under  the  circumstances,  nor  do  I 
suppose  with  his  relations  to  McDonald  he  would  be  disposed  to 
go  for  an  "eastern  man,"  nor  do  I  know  how  my  old  friend  re 
gards  my  promotion  to  a  position  which  perhaps  he  still  may 
himself  aspire.  Now,  let  me  say  that  it  had  been  suggested  to 
me  that  Governor  Leon  Abbett  of  New  Jersey  would  be  a 
proper  person  to  present  my  name.  Jersey  is  a  northern  State 
and  a  tariff  State,  and  one  of  the  doubtful  States.  Think  this 
over,  and  write  me  at  once  your  views, 


270  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Senator  Bayard's  comment  on  the  result  at  Chicago, 
while  tinged  with  some  asperity,  was  a  manly  recognition 
of  the  loyalty  of  those  who  had  supported  him.  He 
wrote  to  Mr.  Davis  from  Wilmington  on  July  18,  1884: 

My  dear  Davis: 

Our  "beaten  troops"  have  all  returned  from  Chicago,  and  I 
have  many  accounts  of  the  incidents  and  workings  of  that  strange 
body  of  our  countrymen  called  the  Democratic  Convention.  Like 
all  such  assemblies,  there  was  a  great  deal  to  make  me  think  better 
and  some  things  to  make  me  think  worse  of  human  nature. 

To  me  there  was  a  great  deal  to  gratify  in  the  conduct  of  my 
friends,  those  upon  whom  I  relied  and  who  have  only  endeared 
themselves  more  than  ever  to  me  by  their  staunch  and  generous 
advocacy,  and  among  them  you  stand.  I  am  quite  conscious  that 
my  share  of  praise  is  beyond  my  merits,  and  my  ambition  is  to  be 
really  worthy  of  the  place  assigned  me  in  our  party  councils  and 
the  estimation  of  the  country.  Some  day  when  we  are  quietly 
together  you  will  explain  to  me  some  things  about  the  Maryland 
delegation,  and  Gorman  will  also,  I  doubt  not.  I  had  come  to 
regard  Maryland  the  same  as  Delaware — perhaps  without  war 
rant — and  yet  I  believe  that  before  the  people  of  both  States  I 
have  the  same  position. 

I  hope  we  will  prove  to  have  been  mistaken  in  our  estimate  of 
the  defection  from  Cleveland  in  New  York.  It  is  too  early  yet  to 
descry  the  movement  of  the  currents  of  popular  feeling.  Some 
strange  novelties  appear,  and  to  find  Harper's  Weekly,  the  New 
York  Times,  the  Evening  Post,  the  New  York  Herald,  etc.,  all 
aiding  the  Democratic  nominee  is  enough  to  make  a  man  stare. 

Certain  it  is  that  new  political  forces  are  at  work,  and  some  of 
them  dangerous.  Butler's  organization  of  the  "labor  vote"  is  a 
dangerous  and  demagogical  movement,  for  the  laboring  classes 
(so-called)  have  surely  no  such  wrongs  as  yet  in  this  country  as 
to  justify  a  separate  organization.  How  many  Presidents  have 
we  had  who  were  men  of  inherited  fortune?  How  many  Cabinet 
ministers,  how  many  men  in  the  Senate  to-day,  have  worked  with 
their  hands  for  a  living!  How  many  millionaires  have  we  who 
did  not  spring  from  poverty?  You  see  how  unjust  in  this  coun 
try  is  the  separate  and  hostile  array  of  laboring  men. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  271 

The  man  for  whom  I  feel  just  now  is  our  friend  McDonald. 
I  do  not  think  Indiana  was  faithful  to  him — but,  but — when  we 
meet  we  will  talk  it  all  over. 

During  the  progress  of  the  campaign  Senator  Bayard 
frequently  wrote  Mr.  Davis.  One  of  the  letters  is  es 
pecially  interesting  as  reiterating  his  views  of  General 
Benjamin  F.  Butler.  On  August  27  he  wrote  from  Wil 
mington  : 

There  are  so  many  new  elements  in  the  canvass  that  it  is  hard 
to  foretell  their  relative  force.  My  judgment  of  Butler  and  the 
danger  of  having  anything  to  do  with  him — except  to  put  him  to 
death — has  had  ample  confirmation. 

The  canvass  drags  on  both  sides,  but  will  be  hot  enough  ere 
long.  I  think  I  will  speak  in  Brooklyn  on  the  I5th  of  September. 

What  may  happen  in  New  York  I  cannot  say,  but  elsewhere 
I  do  not  think  Blaine  will  make  any  serious  inroad  in  the  Irish 
vote  and  will  lose  heavily  with  the  German  vote.  The  Independ 
ents  attack  him  with  a  bitterness  quite  unknown  to  the  Democrats. 
Regards  to  Gorman. 

The  intimate  personal  correspondence  of  the  two 
friends  would  make  a  large  volume.  Innumerable  let 
ters  are  filled  with  graceful  tributes  from  Senator  Bay 
ard  to  the  lifework  of  Mr.  Davis.  After  one  of  his 
many  trips  through  the  region  traversed  by  the  West 
Virginia  Central  Railway  he  wrote  from  Wilmington, 
under  date  of  June  23,  1890: 

My  dear  Davis: 

I  enjoyed  the  trip  over  your  road  immensely,  and  feel  well 
satisfied  with  my  small  pecuniary  interest  in  that  region  of  in 
dustry  and  growing  wealth.  I  must  congratulate  you  upon  the 
monument  to  your  energy  and  far-sighted  enterprise  and  intelli 
gence  which  the  West  Virginia  Central  and  the  whole  region 
it  penetrates  constitute. 

It  is  a  just  cause  of  pride  to  you,  and  will  be  to  your  children, 
that  you  have  let  the  sunlight  of  civilization  and  prosperity  in  upon 


272  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  region  so  secluded  by  its  rugged  natural  features.     May  you 
fully  enjoy  the  fruition  of  your  labors. 

When  the  autumn  comes  I  shall  try  to  let  Mrs.  Bayard  see  the 
West  Virginia  Central  in  the  glory  of  the  change  of  leaves,  and 
will  write  you. 

A  New  Year's  letter  from  Mr.  Bayard,  penned  a  few 
months  before  his  own  death,  is  a  fitting  tribute  with 
which  to  close  the  story  of  the  deep  friendship  of  these 
two  men : 

Wilmington,  Del., 

January  i,  1898. 
My  dtar  Henry  Davis'- 

I  was  very  glad  to  get  your  kind  note  of  yesterday  with  a  pass 
over  the  lines  of  the  West  Va.  Central  for  1898  for  me  and  Mrs. 
Bayard. 

I  have  always  been  desirous  that  she  should  see  the  beautiful 
region  your  enterprise  has  so  developed,  and  I  am  personally  de 
sirous  of  noting  your  progress  since  I  was  last  in  your  territories. 

The  death  of 'a  dear  sister  clouds  the  entry  of  the  New  Year, 
and  just  now  I  am  a  prisoner  in  the  house  with  a  bad  cold. 

I  hope  you  are  a  little  more  conservative  of  your  fine  physical 
powers  and  are  learning  a  little  how  to  play. 

As  a  Christmas  card  I  send  you  a  verse  by  one  of  our  country 
men,  Whittier,  which  will  please  Mrs.  Davis  quite  as  much  as  you. 

When  I  am  next  in  Washington  I  shall  hope  to  see  you,  pro 
vided  you  hold  still  long  enough. 

Wishing  you  a  Happy  New  Year. 

Sincerely  yours, 

T.  F.  BAYARD. 
Hon.  Henry  G.  Davis, 

Washington. 

Andrew  Carnegie  was  a  regular  correspondent  of  Mr. 
Davis,  not  only  in  connection  with  the  Pan-American 
Railway,  but  also  in  reference  to  other  subjects.  His 
crisp  and  concise  letters  would  make  a  vest  pocket  edition 
of  piquant  comment.  When  he  was  appointed  a  delegate 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  273 

to  the  Second  Pan-American  Conference  at  Mexico,  in 
sequence  to  his  membership  in  the  First  Conference  at 
Washington  in  which  he  and  Mr.  Davis  had  been  col 
leagues,  under  date  of  March  8,  1902,  he  wrote  from 
New  York : 

My  dear  Mr.  Davis: 

Notice  of  my  appointment  duly  received  and  acceptance  mailed. 
Shall  be  glad  to  be  of  service  with  you  in  the  great  work.  Sorry 
that  I  am  so  busy  these  days  that  I  am  not  able  to  accept  your 
kind  invitation  to  visit  Washington.  We  are  sailing  soon  for  our 
summer  holiday.  Tell  Senator  Elkins  hope  to  see  him  and  his  at 
Skibo  this  summer. 

In  later  years  came  a  crisp  note  from  Dungenness : 

Dear  Mr.  Chairman: 

Here  on  Lister  Island  three  generations  of  Carnegies  and  I 
head  the  family. 

We  leave  to-day  for  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas.  Madam  has  need 
to  take  the  cure  for  the  first  time.  Shall  reach  New  York  say 
April  ist  and  let  you  know  when  I  can  get  to  meeting. 

Long  life  to  you,  grand  old  man. 

It  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Carnegie  in  his  benefac 
tions  excluded  gifts  to  denominational  institutions.  This, 
however,  did  not  prevent  Mr.  Davis  from  laying  before 
him  the  claims  of  the  West  Virginia  Institution  to  which 
he  and  Senator  Elkins  had  contributed  so  liberally  and 
which  he  had  endowed.  The  answer  was  characterist 
ically  brief  and  frank.  Mr.  Carnegie  wrote  from  New 
York  on  December  4,  1911 : 

My  dear  Friend: 

I  am  so  glad  to  hear  from  you,  venerable  sage. 

I  must  give  you  the  rare  opportunity  of  taking  that  Presbyterian 
College  under  your  sole  control.  I  would  not  rob  you  of  the 
privilege  for  the  world. 

It  is  a  rule  which  I  shall  never  break;  viz.,  I  will  support  no 


274  HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS 

educational  institution  which  favors  one  sect  or  discriminates 
against  other  sects.  Education  should  be  undenominational,  all 
religions  and  creeds  on  equal  footing. 

Happy  to  see  you  in  Washington  when  I  am  there  for  a  few 
days. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS 

Mr.  Davis's  journal  as  an  illustration  of  his  character — Intimate 
record  of  half  a  century — The  observant  traveler  at  home  and 
abroad — European  trip — Shrewd  reflections  on  the  Southern 
States — Mexico  and  California — Personal  thrift  and  business 
liberality — Passion  for  order  and  detail — Faculty  of  concentration 
— Making  a  bargain — High  standard  of  integrity — Dislike  of 
speculation — In  all  things  an  individualist — Austere  home  life 
mellowed — Favorite  documents  of  American  history — Fondness 
for  biography — Material  for  speeches — Nature's  physical  endow 
ment — Horseback  rider  at  ninety — Capacity  for  sleep — Religious 
convictions. 

THE  intimate  story  of  Henry  G.  Davis's  life  for 
half  a  century  has  been  told  by  himself.  This  is 
not  in  the  form  of  an  autobiography  or  of  a 
sketch  prepared  by  him,  nor  was  the  story  told  for  a 
moralizing  purpose.  It  contains  no  meditations  with  sly 
thoughts  of  posterity's  comment.  It  simply  grew  out  of 
one  of  his  leading  characteristics,  which  was  the  love  of 
order  and  the  desire  to  have  before  him  the  record  of 
current  events  and  of  his  own  activities.  For  nearly 
fifty  years  he  kept  a  journal  in  which  he  entered  the 
things  that  most  concerned  him  or  that  at  the  time  made 
the  strongest  impression  on  him. 

This  journal  in  reality  is  the  record  of  his  associa 
tions  as  well  as  of  his  own  work  from  year  to  year.  It 
is  comprised  in  a  single  volume,  a  large  business  ledger 
bound  in  sheepskin  and  filled  from  beginning  to  end  with 

275 


276  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

his  notes.  It  commences  in  the  spring  of  1867,  when  he 
moved  to  Deer  Park  for  the  summer,  and  it  ends  a  short 
time  before  his  death  in  Washington,  in  February,  1916. 
There  are  some  scattering  records  of  his  earlier  years, 
but  the  memorandum  books  of  those  years,  to  which  he 
sometimes  refers,  unfortunately  have  been  lost. 

Much  that  has  been  written  in  the  account  of  his  life 
and  times  that  this  volume  comprises  is  drawn  from  the 
journal,  as  has  been  made  clear  by  the  frequent  quota 
tions  from  it,  but  it  has  to  be  studied  from  cover  to  cover 
to  exhibit  fully  the  qualities  that  made  him  a  successful 
railway  builder  and  organizer  of  industry  as  well  as  man 
of  public  affairs. 

The  entries  relate  to  his  prospecting  trips  among  coal 
and  timber  lands,  to  family  matters  of  an  intimate  char 
acter,  to  social  intercourse,  to  political  events,  to  inter 
views  with  railway  officials  and  financiers  of  his  own 
type,  with  occasional  comment,  never  of  an  unkindly  na 
ture,  on  his  contemporaries.  In  the  later  years  there  are 
numerous  newspaper  clippings,  especially  in  connection 
with  politics  and  the  business  enterprises  in  which  he 
was  concerned.  His  impressions  are  recorded  spontane 
ously,  but  with  many  shrewd  reflections.  The  weather 
is  frequently  noted,  but  the  notation  is  that  of  the  farmer, 
the  lumberman,  the  railway  builder,  or  the  contractor, 
for  whom  meteorological  conditions  have  a  definite 
meaning. 

The  faculty  of  observation  that  Mr.  Davis  possessed 
doubtless  has  been  apparent  to  the  reader  of  these  pages. 
It  helped  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  his  early  education. 
His  was  the  schooling  that  comes  from  observation,  from 
association  with  workingmen,  men  of  business,  states 
men,  and  diplomatists,  and  from  meeting  and  overcom 
ing  difficulties.  It  was  an  education  that  made  his  judg- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  277 

ment  sought  and  respected  in  great  business  enterprises, 
in  political  management,  and  in  public  affairs. 

The  faculty  of  seeing  intelligently  was  especially 
shown  in  his  various  journeys.  He  was  the  observant 
traveler  in  whatever  place  he  found  himself,  on  horse 
back  or  on  foot  in  the  primeval  forests  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies;  in  Europe ;  making  a  hasty  trip  to  Cuba  or  Ber 
muda  or  Mexico;  crossing  the  continent;  journeying  as 
a  rrrember  of  a  senatorial  committee  or  traveling  with  his 
family  for  recreation.  Wherever  he  was  he  saw  all  that 
the  ordinary  traveler  saw  and  much  more. 

In  the  spring  of  1873,  when  Senator  Davis  went  to 
California  with  his  daughter  Hallie,  after  noting  the 
many  buffalo,  antelope,  and  prairie-dogs  on  the  plains, 
he  also  notes  seeing  "one  wolf."  Denver  he  found  a 
promising  place,  but  he  was  "only  tolerably  well  pleased" 
with  San  Francisco  and  the  country  around  it.  The 
same  observation  was  made  about  Salt  Lake  City.  Like 
all  travelers,  he  went  to  the  Mormon  Tabernacle  on 
Sunday.  His  visit  was  before  the  enactment  of  anti- 
polygamy  laws,  and  he  remarks  that  some  Mormons  have 
twenty  wives,  others  one,  two,  three,  and  so  on. 

In  the  summer  of  1878,  as  a  relief  from  senatorial 
duties,  he  made  a  trip  to  Europe  in  company  with  his 
daughter  Kate,  his  colleague  Senator  Camden,  and  Sen 
ator  Camden's  daughters,  Annie  and  Jessie.  The  party 
spent  four  days  in  Ireland  visiting  Blarney  Castle,  Kil- 
larney,  and  Dublin.  Then  they  went  to  Scotland  and 
London,  and  from  London  to  Paris,  where  they  visited 
the  Exposition.  Switzerland,  the  Rhine,  and  Belgium 
also  were  visited.  This  itinerary  is  recorded  in  his 
journal  with  an  occasional  observation  but  apparently  he 
was  taking  full  notes  all  the  time,  for  he  remarks:  "For 
full  account  of  trip  see  memorandum  books." 


278  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

When  the  Senate  Committee  on  Transportation  visited 
various  parts  of  the  country  he  made  copious  entries  in 
his  journal,  most  of  them  relating  to  the  subject  of  the 
inquiry  and  therefore  including  observations  of  trade 
and  industry.  While  in  New  Orleans  he  recorded  this 
impression : 

I  am  pleased  with  the  country  in  Louisiana,  but  much  of  the 
southern  country  and  States  are  going  to  waste.  Taxes  in  New 
Orleans  are  $5.12  on  the  $100,  and  in  the  county  $4.75.  No 
people  can  stand  this  long. 

In  the  midwinter  of  1884,  with  Mrs.  Davis,  he  took  a 
trip  to  Florida  and  Louisiana.  His  impressions  of  the 
towns  and  of  the  country  were  given  in  brief  entries  in 
the  journal.  He  found  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
"quite  an  old  town,  fairly  built,  and  looking  tolerably 
prosperous."  The  many  cotton-fields  on  the  road  from 
Charleston  to  Jacksonville  were  noted,  with  the  observa 
tion  also  that  the  oranges  were  still  hanging  upon  the 
trees.  Proceeding  to  New  Orleans  by  way  of  Tallahas 
see,  he  remarked  that  the  country  was  mostly  sandy  and 
poor.  Of  New  Orleans  on  this  second  visit  he  briefly 
remarks :  "City  has  a  business  appearance.  Theaters 
and  many  stores  are  open  on  Sunday."  Returning 
North,  he  commented  on  the  coal  and  iron  in  Alabama, 
and  added  that  Birmingham  was  a  very  thriving  place 
which  had  grown  very  rapidly.  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
he  described  as  a  growing  town  with  a  fine  country 
around  it,  and  the  country  between  Nashville  and  Louis 
ville  was  also  referred  to  as  "fine." 

Mr.  Davis,  accompanied  by  members  of  his  family, 
visited  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  in  midsummer,  1893. 
His  comment  was  brief  but  comprehensive :  "The  Fair 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  279 

is  very  large,  and  is  a  wonderful  exhibit  of  the  United 
States  and  the  world." 

In  the  early  spring  of  1894,  with  Mrs.  Davis  and  other 
members  of  the  family,  he  made  a  flying  trip  to  Havana 
by  way  of  Florida,  but  he  did  not  record  his  impressions 
of  Cuba  under  Spanish  rule,  as  it  then  was. 

In  the  spring  of  1895  he  visited  Mexico  City  and  Cali 
fornia,  chiefly  for  business  purposes.  While  in  Mexico 
he  was  received  by  President  Diaz,  who  treated  him  with 
much  consideration.  He  expressed  some  annoyance  at 
the  attention  shown  him.  The  President  had  detailed 
an  army  officer  to  accompany  their  party,  and  this  officer 
performed  his  duty  with  military  fidelity,  while  Mr. 
Davis  wanted  to  get  away  by  himself  at  times  and  take 
a  look  around,  as  he  phrased  it. 

In  1897  he  went  to  Bermuda  from  New  York,  record 
ing  that  the  trip  was  rough  and  that  he  was  seasick  all 
the  way.  The  visit,  however,  was  an  enjoyable  one. 
The  attractiveness  of  Bermuda  was  thus  summed  up: 
"Climate  in  March  about  our  early  June.  Nearly  every 
thing  is  white." 

In  his  other  travels,  sometimes  for  recreation,  some 
times  for  business,  and  not  infrequently  combining  both, 
he  never  failed  to  make  notes;  but  it  would  be  difficult 
to  trace  in  these  notes  anything  that  could  be  attributed 
to  the  standard  guide-books.  His  observations  were  as 
original  as  they  were  pointed. 

Mr.  Davis  had  few  idiosyncrasies  or  peculiarities,  but 
such  as  they  were  they  bore  the  impress  of  a  strong  per 
sonality.  The  hardships  of  his  early  life,  and  the  priva 
tions  that  followed  the  reversion  of  the  family  from  com 
fort  and  wealth  to  poverty,  left  a  deep  impression  on  his 
character.  Besides  this  there  was  an  innate  aversion  to 


280  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

waste  and  an  appreciation  of  the  real  meaning  of  econ 
omy.  He  had  learned  to  practise  thrift  from  necessity, 
but  he  would  have  been  saving  in  any  circumstances  be 
cause  thriftiness  was  the  basis  on  which  to  build. 

In  his  personal  habits  through  all  his  long  life  he  was 
simplicity  itself.  His  wants  were  few  and  were  easily 
satisfied.  In  making  a  small  purchase  or  providing  for 
some  slight  need,  he  would  exercise  the  same  care  that  he 
had  found  it  necessary  to  bestow  when  dollars  were  very 
scarce  and  hard  to  get.  These  habits  were  not  eccen 
tricities;  they  were  simply  the  reflex  of  a  principle. 
Some  of  them  were  too  superficial  to  be  worthy  of  men 
tion.  If  there  were  good  reason  for  being  generous  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  show  liberality,  but  the  liberality  that 
is  quite  distinct  from  prodigality. 

In  the  same  way,  while  all  his  life  he  exhorted  to  econ 
omy,  he  distinguished  it  from  parsimony.  His  subor 
dinates  in  the  management  of  his  properties  were  fre 
quently  told,  sometimes  sharply,  that  they  must  exercise 
greater  economy,  but  where  there  was  a  real  need  of 
liberal  expenditures  they  had  only  to  show  it  and  they 
were  allowed  to  go  ahead.  In  public  affairs,  and  the 
administration  of  government,  economy  naturally  was 
one  of  Mr.  Davis's  favorite  themes,  and  in  particular  he 
held  the  opposition  party  to  strict  account  for  expendi 
tures.  But  when  he  came  to  exercise  his  functions  as  a 
legislator  he  never  was  parsimonious  toward  the  Gov 
ernment. 

In  his  business  affairs  he  would  weigh  every  expense 
carefully,  even  to  the  cost  of  a  short  trip,  but  he  would 
not  hesitate  to  close  a  million-dollar  transaction  over 
night  as  the  result  of  such  a  journey.  In  his  private  and 
family  life  there  was  no  trace  of  undue  economy,  yet 
there  was  no  extravagance.  Disliking  display  and  osten- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  281 

tation,  he  always  maintained  his  household  on  a  scale 
befitting  his  own  position  and  his  hospitable  inclinations. 
It  was  a  generous  hospitality,  for  he  was  not  ashamed  to 
be  known  as  a  rich  man. 

Witness  an  illustration  of  his  activities  when  he  was  in 
his  seventy-fifth  year  as  given  in  his  journal : 

Sept.  10,  1898.  I  am  quite  busy  arranging  to  open  mine  at 
Simpson.  Call  New  York  Coal  Co. 

Also  building  or  extending  road  ( W.  Va.  Central)  from  Beverly 
to  Huttonsville. 

An  important  element  in  Mr.  Davis's  character  which 
had  much  to  do  with  his  success  was  the  faculty  of  con 
centrating  his  energies  upon  the  work  in  hand  and  his 
ability  to  dismiss  business  cares  from  his  mind  when 
the  time  came  for  recreation.  Whatever  he  had  to  do, 
whether  it  was  working  on  a  farm,  running  a  railway 
train,  framing  an  appropriation  bill,  drawing  up  a  re 
port  for  an  international  conference,  or  managing  a  rail 
way  or  a  coal  company,  he  always  was  able  to  concentrate 
his  attention  and  his  energies  on  the  one  subject.  He 
always  wanted  to  have  as  much  as  possible  of  his  work 
carried  out  under  his  own  eyes. 

A  leading  trait  in  Mr.  Davis's  business  methods  was 
his  love  of  order.  This  was  inherent.  In  his  personal 
habits  the  practices  of  his  early  boyhood,  which  had 
been  taught  him  by  his  mother,  were  followed,  even  to 
carefully  laying  out  his  towel  to  dry.  Everything  he 
did  was  methodical.  His  explorations  of  lumber  and 
coal  lands  were  never  taken  at  haphazard.  The  full  de 
tails  of  these  inspections  and  investigations,  written 
down  by  himself  at  the  time  and  afterward  entered  in  his 
journal,  always  could  be  used  to  refresh  his  mind  and 
undoubtedly  were  of  great  valuie  to  him.  Having  made 


282  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  thorough  study  of  the  resources  of  a  given  region, 
having  gone  over  it  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  he  was  then 
in  a  position  to  go  forward  with  his  plans.  It  was  con 
fidence  in  his  knowledge  that  enabled  him  to  interest 
other  capitalists  in  his  railway  projects.  It  was  suffi 
cient  for  them  that  "H.  G.  D."  had  gone  over  the  ground 
and  satisfied  himself  that  there  was  traffic  to  be  de 
veloped. 

In  dealing  with  others  he  always  dealt  on  a  business 
basis,  and  there  were  few  who  could  excel  him  in  making 
a  bargain ;  yet  no  one  could  complain  of  unfairness.  He 
knew  the  value  of  what  he  had  to  sell,  or  of  what  he 
wanted  to  buy,  and  knowing  it  he  laid  the  foundation  for 
the  prospective  transaction.  An  incident  shows  his 
method.  Along  toward  the  end  of  his  life  he  decided  to 
dispose  of  certain  timber  and  coal  holdings.  The  opera 
tion  was  a  somewhat  complicated  one.  He  formulated 
the  plan  himself,  and  in  giving  the  outline  to  his  lawyers 
to  be  put  into  legal  form  he  remarked :  "This  is  about 
what  it  will  have  to  be.  There  may  be  a  few  changes 
from  what  I  have  put  down,  but  they  won't  be  impor 
tant." 

The  prospective  buyers  thought  otherwise,  but  after 
months  of  negotiations  the  transaction  was  consummated 
on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Mr.  Davis.  In  concluding  it 
there  came  a  business  letter  from  the  head  of  the  corpor 
ation,  who  years  previously  had  been  associated  with 
him.  The  business  letter,  notwithstanding  the  rigid 
terms,  closed  with  a  word  congratulating  the  writer's 
old  principal  that  his  eye  had  not  lost  its  clearness  nor 
his  hand  its  cunning.  Mr.  Davis  was  a  little  doubtful 
about  the  compliment,  but  his  associates  knew  it  for  what 
it  was  intended,  a  tribute  to  sagacity.  His  correspond 
ence  was  the  essence  of  clearness  and  conciseness. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  283 

Mr.  Davis's  business  morality  was  of  the  highest 
standard.  He  never  speculated  in  his  own  properties, 
although  his  enterprises  were  carried  forward  during  a 
period  when  this  was  not  considered  unethical.  Closely 
in  touch  all  his  life  with  Wall  Street,  its  methods  made 
no  appeal  to  him,  and  its  standards  as  practised  by  some 
of  its  leaders  never  received  the  sanction  of  his  cooper 
ation.  He  dealt  with  the  reputable  financial  leaders 
and  was  content. 

Every  dollar  of  his  fortune  which  grew  out  of  timber 
and  coal  lands  and  railroads  was  the  result  of  invest 
ments  made  after  thorough  investigation,  and  for  every 
dollar  he  created  for  himself  wealth  was  created  for  en 
tire  communities.  While  some  of  his  enterprises  seemed 
hazardous  and  doubtless  were  so,  considered  as  specula 
tions,  there  was  no  hazard  in  them  when  considered  as 
investments.  To  him  it  was  simply  a  question  of  work 
ing  and  waiting,  and  his  foresight  and  conservatism  were 
demonstrated  in  the  comparative  ease  with  which  he 
passed  through  the  unsettled  conditions.  His  long  busi 
ness  career  covered  several  periods  of  national  panics 
and  also  of  local  depressions.  Yet  there  is  no  evidence 
that  he  was  ever  seriously  affected  by  them. 

The  panic  of  1873  found  him  engaged  in  many  im 
portant  enterprises  requiring  considerable  capital,  but 
it  did  not  find  him  over-extended.  He  was  able  to  speak 
from  his  place  in  the  Senate  against  inflation  during  this 
panic,  although  some  of  his  colleagues,  who  were  men 
of  large  business  affairs,  were  advocating  "more  circu 
lation  medium"  doubtless  as  the  unconscious  reflection 
of  their  own  difficulties. 

Mr.  Davis's  fondness  for  detail  was  a  passion,  yet  it 
was  a  part  of  his  success.  Where  he  knew  everything 
so  thoroughly,  he  was  the  better  able  to  carry  out  his  own 


284  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ideas.  Long  before  the  railways  had  been  compelled  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to  adopt  a  uniform 
system  of  bookkeeping,  the  accounts  of  his  lines  were 
thoroughly  systematized.  Long  before  manufacturers 
and  mining  companies  had  realized  that  they  ought  to 
know  the  cost  of  production,  he  had  worked  out  his  own 
system  under  which  he  knew  what  it  cost  him  to  mine  and 
sell  coal  and  coke.  Some  of  the  most  interesting  ex 
hibits  among  his  papers  in  the  latter  period  of  his  busi 
ness  activities  are  the  cost  sheets  of  his  railways  and  his 
mines. 

It  sometimes  was  a  question  with  the  railway  leaders 
of  the  country,  "Why  Davis  confined  himself  to  one  little 
corner?"  Knowing  his  constructive  capacity  and  his 
grasp  of  large  operations,  they  wondered  that  he  was 
content  to  occupy  what  they  looked  on  as  so  small  a  field 
when  a  whole  continent  stretched  before  him.  His  pas 
sion  for  detail  doubtless  was  one  reason,  since  the  rail 
way  projector  who  seeks  to  span  a  continent  cannot  be  a 
man  of  detail.  Mr.  Davis  may  have  had  this  feeling 
himself,  but  back  of  it  was  his  sense  of  responsibility. 
He  did  not,  with  his  high  standard  of  integrity,  want  to 
be  identified  with  any  enterprises  that  were  too  big  for 
his  personal  supervision,  and  he  wanted  to  be  unham 
pered  in  carrying  out  his  own  ideas.  He  was  essentially 
an  individualist. 

In  business  conferences  it  was  usually  remarked  by  his 
associates  that  "Davis  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table." 
Some  of  these  associates  were  men  of  great  adroitness 
who  would  seek  results  by  indirect  methods.  Some 
times,  too,  they  would  enter  a  conference  with  somewhat 
cloudy  ideas  of  what  they  wanted  to  accomplish.  They 
found  that  Davis  could  not  be  convinced  by  these  meth- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  285 

ods.  He  must  know  just  what  they  were  aiming  at  and 
how  they  were  going  to  achieve  their  end. 

His  own  views  were  always  clear.  His  directness  was 
really  the  reflection  of  his  mental  honesty.  Because  he 
could  think  only  straight  he  could  do  things  only  in  a 
straight  manner.  His  judgment  was  not  infallible,  but 
usually  it  was  good  and  deference  was  paid  to  it.  Like 
all  men  of  native  force,  he  was  positive,  even  obstinate, 
in  his  opinions,  and  when  he  allowed  his  obstinacy  to 
influence  his  course  of  action  and  paid  for  it,  as  some 
times  happened,  he  did  not  complain  or  seek  to  hold 
others  responsible  for  his  own  mistakes. 

One  of  the  sources  of  his  success  was  the  confidence  he 
inspired  in  his  associates  and  the  loyalty  he  inspired 
among  his  employees.  Few  young  men  who  entered  his 
employment  and  showed  their  worthiness  failed  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  bettering  themselves.  But  it  was  al 
ways  on  the  basis  of  self-help.  The  young  man  who  had 
enjoyed  some  responsibility,  and  who  had  shown  both 
capacity  and  fidelity,  and  who  could  exhibit  the  results  of 
money  saved,  rarely  failed  to  get  the  opportunity  to  make 
a  profitable  investment. 

In  his  home  life  Henry  G.  Davis  was  seen  at  his  best. 
Yet  until  a  comparatively  late  period  it  was  an  austere 
home  life.  He  long  practised  faithfully  the  Covenant 
er's  Sunday.  No  work  that  possibly  could  be  done  on 
week-days  was  allowed  to  be  performed  on  the  Sabbath. 
Even  the  food  was  cooked,  as  far  as  possible,  on  Satur 
day.  For  many  years  the  horses  belonging  to  the  family 
carriage  were  turned  loose  Saturday  night,  not  to  feel 
the  harness  again  until  Monday.  Children  of  the  fam 
ily  grown  to  womanhood  and  manhood  recalled  how  the 
swings  were  tied  Saturday  night,  not  to  be  released  until 


286  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Monday.  In  later  years  these  strict  observances  grad 
ually  relaxed,  and  the  head  of  the  family  even  allowed 
himself  the  recreation  of  whist  and  euchre  and  other  en 
tertainments  on  week-day  evenings. 

Mr.  Davis  was  not  a  man  given  to  much  book  reading, 
but  he  had  a  very  wide  fund  of  information.  He  read 
the  newspapers  and  magazines  discriminately  and  there 
was  seldom  a  current  topic  of  interest  on  which  he  was 
not  fully  informed.  Fiction  never  appealed  to  him,  be 
cause  he  knew  it  was  fiction.  "The  people  in  the  stories 
are  not  real/7  he  would  sometimes  say  when  urged  to  in 
terest  himself  in  a  popular  novel.  "Everything  there 
is  made  up  by  the  folks  who  write  those  books."  This 
indifference  to  fiction  continued  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and 
it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  read  a  novel. 

American  history  to  him  unrolled  in  a  few  leading 
events  and  he  was  never  tired  of  reading  them.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Constitution  were 
two  of  the  favored  documents,  but  there  were  other  State 
papers.  A  little  volume  containing  half  a  dozen  of  these 
so  appealed  to  him  that  he  presented  copies  of  it  to  his 
friends.  Among  them  were  Washington's  Farewell 
Address,  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  Compro 
mises  of  1850,  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  and  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address. 

Mr.  Davis  was  very  fond  of  ancient  history  and  of 
biography.  In  middle  life  he  read  much  literature  of 
this  character  himself,  but  in  later  years  he  was  wont  to 
have  some  member  of  the  family  read  to  him.  Like  so 
many  men  of  constructive  natures  who  are  educated  by 
observation  and  experience,  the  great  characters  in  his 
tory  stood  out  before  him  as  the  exemplars  of  deeds 
rather  than  of  abstract  ideas.  In  his  speeches  and  ad 
dresses  he  frequently  drew  on  his  knowledge  of  history. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  287 

When  he  made  his  speech  on  agriculture  in  the  Senate 
in  1879,  h*s  copious  historical  introduction  was  the  fruit 
of  his  own  reading,  and  in  later  speeches  on  the  same 
subject  he  amplified  his  observations. 

A  neat  typewritten  outline  of  a  speech  he  made  on 
agriculture  at  Parker sburg  in  November,  1910,  when  he 
was  in  his  eighty-second  year,  illustrates  in  a  few  para 
graphic  quotations  his  mode  of  historical  thought : 

History  informs  us  that  a  nation  or  people  that  neglects  agri 
culture  decays. 

In  support  of  this  under  the  wise  policy  of  Philip  of  Macedonia 
the  country  gave  great  attention  to  agriculture,  and  grew  rich, 
powerful,  and  prosperous. 

Alexander  neglected  agriculture  and  commenced  his  conquest 
of  the  world,  and  the  nation  decayed.  Carthage  grew  great  and 
happy  by  attention  to  agriculture  and  commerce. 

Hannibal,  the  great  General,  abandoned  agriculture  and  com 
menced  a  war  to  conquer  other  nations,  and  his  country  went  to 
pieces. 

Rome  in  the  early  days,  following  the  example  of  such  farmers 
as  Cato,  Cincinnatus,  and  others,  gave  great  attention  to  agricul 
ture,  and  grew  to  be  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  nation  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Caesar,  Antony,  and  others  caused  agricul 
ture  to  be  neglected  and  went  to  war  to  conquer  other  nations,  and 
Rome  declined  and  was  finally  blotted  out. 

Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence  were  agriculturists. 

Four  of  our  great  Presidents  were  farmers — Washington,  Jef 
ferson,  Jackson,  and  Lincoln. 

In  his  reading  of  history  Mr.  Davis  sometimes  found 
illustrations  to  serve  a  polemic  purpose.  In  his  support 
of  Mr.  Bryan  for  President  in  1896,  he  spoke  of  the 
charge  against  Bryan  on  account  of  his  youth,  and  cited 
these  illustrations  of  young  men: 

"Pitt,  perhaps  the  greatest  Minister  England  has  ever 
had,  was  at  the  head  of  the  English  Government  before 


288  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

he  was  thirty.  Alexander  Hamilton,  one  of  the  ablest 
men  of  this  or  any  other  country,  was  aid  and  companion 
to  Washington  at  twenty-two,  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  at  thirty-two.  Jefferson  wrote  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights  at  thirty,  and  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  at  thirty-three.  Alexander  the  Great  con 
quered  the  world  at  twenty-five.  Napoleon,  the  greatest 
of  European  generals,  ruled  France  and  most  of  Europe 
at  thirty." 

In  the  preparation  of  his  speeches  and  addresses,  Mr. 
Davis  followed  the  methodical  habit  that  he  applied  in 
business  affairs.  Everything  was  carefully  thought  out 
in  advance,  given  its  proper  sequence,  and  thus  noted. 
The  outlines  of  several  of  these  speeches  show  him  as  a 
clear  thinker  and  as  a  shrewd  special  advocate.  Some 
times  the  notes  served  as  the  basis  for  remarks  of  an 
extemporaneous  character,  later  to  be  embodied  in  more 
formal  language.  He  was  always  sure  of  his  facts  and 
his  statistics  were  carefully  verified. 

An  interesting  reminder  of  political  activities  is  an 
outline  in  his  own  handwriting  of  a  speech  he  made  in 
1878.  Since  he  was  speaking  as  a  Democrat,  it  might  be 
taken  for  granted  that  he  would  vigorously  attack  the 
Republicans.  Among  his  indictments  of  the  party  in 
power  is  the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  office 
holders.  He  does  not  deal  in  generalities,  but  gives  the 
figures:  Buchanan,  44,527;  Lincoln,  46,146;  Andrew 
Johnson,  56,113;  Grant,  102,350. 

Nature  had  endowed  him  with  a  strong  constitution. 
Life  in  the  open  air,  hard  work  in  youth  and  early  man 
hood,  had  developed  his  physical  powers.  Simple  habits 
of  living  had  preserved  the  stamina  with  which  nature 
endowed  him.  His  vigor  was  the  wonder  of  his  family 
and  friends,  who  had  many  opportunities  of  noting  his 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  289 

powers  of  endurance.  His  fondness  for  horseback  rid 
ing  dated  from  his  boyhood.  In  the  frequent  citations 
from  his  journal  the  horseback  journeys  through  the 
wilderness  are  noted.  He  would  spend  twelve  hours  in 
the  saddle,  and  at  night,  while  his  young  companions 
would  be  wearied  to  the  point  of  exhaustion,  he  would 
show  no  signs  of  fatigue. 

At  his  summer  home  in  Elkins  almost  daily  he  would 
mount  his  favorite  horse  and  ride  over  the  farm  and  the 
surrounding  country.  In  Washington  it  was  not  un 
usual  for  those  who  took  their  early  morning  exercise  on 
horseback  to  meet  him  riding  through  Rock  Creek  Park. 
Sometimes  his  ride  was  taken  later  in  the  day,  and  the 
chance  observer  who  saw  him  was  apt  to  remark  how 
well  he  sat  his  horse.  If  the  same  observer  saw  him  dis 
mount  easily  and  walk  off  with  a  springy  step,  he  could 
hardly  be  made  to  believe  that  the  horseman  was  ninety 
years  old. 

There  was  no  secret  about  the  physical  vigor  he  main 
tained  in  his  later  years,  but  the  retention  of  his  extraor 
dinary  powers  of  body  and  mind  undoubtedly  was  in  a 
measure  due  to  his  ability  to  sleep,  though,  reasoning  in 
a  circle,  it  might  be  said  that  his  ability  to  sleep  was  due 
to  his  physical  attributes.  He  was  accustomed  to  take  a 
nap  after  luncheon,  and  in  the  closing  years  the  length  of 
this  nap  gradually  lengthened.  All  his  life  he  had  the 
faculty  of  securing  a  short  sleep  in  the  daytime,  but  the 
real  source  of  his  strength  was  due  to  sleep  during  the 
hours  that  nature  has  prescribed  for  it.  Regularly  he 
went  to  bed  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  he  was  wont  to  say  that 
within  five  minutes  he  would  be  in  a  sound  sleep  from 
which  he  would  not  wake  till  morning. 

Once  he  took  part  in  a  railway  conference  in  which 
not  only  much  money  but  other  considerations  equally 


290  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

important  were  involved.  Men  of  large  affairs  were 
there.  Their  interests  were  conflicting  and  the  antag 
onisms  that  developed  became  sharply  personal.  The 
conference  broke  up  without  coming  to  any  agreement. 
Mr.  Davis,  as  one  of  the  principals,  himself  had  been 
lifted  out  of  his  usual  self-possession  and  exhibited  some 
annoyance.  The  next  day,  when  he  came  to  his  office, 
he  spoke  of  the  matter  complainingly,  which  was  unusual 
with  him.  "I  was  much  upset  by  that  dispute,"  he  said. 
"Last  night  I  couldn't  get  to  sleep  for  half  an  hour  after 
I  went  to  bed."  The  probability  was  very  strong  that 
the  majority  of  his  associates  had  not  been  able  to  sleep 
at  all. 

Mr.  Davis's  religious  faith  was  deep  and  unquestion 
ing.  It  was  conviction  and  not  simply  belief.  He  was 
a  Presbyterian  and  his  Calvinistic  faith  was  part  of  his 
Scotch-Irish  inheritance.  All  his  life  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  he  was  tolerant  of  all 
creeds.  After  his  death,  among  his  papers  was  found  a 
newspaper  clipping  quoting  J.  Pierpont  Morgan's  con 
fession  of  faith : 

I  commit  my  soul  unto  the  hands  of  my  Saviour,  in  full  confi 
dence  that,  having  redeemed  it  and  washed  it  in  his  most  precious 
blood,  He  will  present  it  faultless  before  the  throne  of  my  Heav 
enly  Father ;  and  I  entreat  my  children  to  maintain  and  defend,  at 
all  hazards,  and  at  any  cost  of  personal  sacrifice,  the  blessed  doc 
trine  of  the  complete  atonement  for  sin  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  once  offered,  and  through  that  alone. 

Mr.  Davis  himself  subscribed  to  that  deep  sentiment. 
Another  newspaper  clipping  gave  in  parallel  columns  the 
old  and  new  Presbyterian  catechism ;  that  is,  the  West 
minster  catechism  and  the  new  catechism.  This  was 
three  years  before  his  death,  and  bore  his  initials.  His 
own  confession  of  faith  appears  in  the  most  sacred  and 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  291 

intimate  form  that  the  words  of  man  can  express.  It  is 
in  the  entry  in  his  journal  describing  the  illness  and  death 
of  his  wife,  paying  her  the  tender  tribute  that  is  meant 
only  for  a  life  companion,  and  concluding:  "I  hope  and 
believe  in  Heaven." 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   CLOSING   YEARS 

Tranquil  activities  of  Mr.  Davis  to  the  end  —  Slowing  up  in 
business  affairs  not  marked  —  Fraternal  associations  —  Memories 
of  the  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  —  The  commemorative  jewel  —  No 
Ciceronian  reflections  on  Old  Age  —  Reforesting  the  wilderness 
for  future  generations  —  Anecdotes  of  contemporaries  —  Health 
strategy  —  Comment  on  public  affairs  —  Anniversary  tributes  to 
his  life  and  work  —  At  ninety-two  —  Last  summer  at  Elkins  — 
Meditations  for  the  Railway  Builder  —  Winter  in  Washington  — 
Journal  entries  —  Illness  and  death  —  Retrospect  of  a  long  life. 

THE  time  when  a  long  and  active  life  drew  to  an 
end  has  been  anticipated  in  the  previous  chap 
ters.  Yet  until  the  very  last  there  remained 
much  of  that  remarkable  life  to  be  told.  The  closing- 
years  might  be  thought  by  those  of  his  own  age  to  begin 
at  threescore  and  ten,  but  that  was  the  period  in  which 
his  activities  were  too  manifold  to  think  of  their  coming 
to  an  end.  After  it  came  the  second  decade  of  biblical 
old  age,  but  he  was  then  beginning  and  carrying  through 
important  railway  and  development  enterprises.  Per 
haps  the  last  decade  might  be  taken  as  the  closing  period, 
and  that  included  continuous  if  not  incessant  activities. 
Though  these  activities  have  been  told  in  detail,  some  of 
them  bear  elaboration. 

Mr.  Davis's  mode  of  living  in  the  closing  years  was 
little  different  from  that  which  it  had  been  throughout 
the  many  previous  years.  In  the  early  spring  he  would 
go  to  Elkins  and  remain  till  the  late  autumn  or  even  till 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  293 

the  frosts  of  winter  appeared.  The  summers  would  be 
broken  by  visits  to  Bedford  Springs  in  Pennsylvania  or 
to  Webster  Springs  in  the  heart  of  West  Virginia,  where 
he  found  the  waters  salutary.  The  winters  were  passed 
in  Washington,  sometimes  at  one  of  the  hotels,  but 
oftener  with  one  of  his  daughters,  either  Mrs.  Lee  or 
Mrs.  Elkins.  After  the  death  of  Senator  Elkins  in  1911 
he  went  to  live  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Elkins.  During 
these  winter  stays  at  the  national  capital  he  spent  several 
hours  every  day  at  his  office,  following  his  accustomed 
routine.  Business  trips  to  New  York  were  not  infre 
quent,  while  scarcely  a  week  passed  that  he  did  not  go 
over  to  Baltimore.  Fortress  Monroe  usually  provided 
a  fortnight's  recreation. 

During  the  last  years  he  "slowed  up"  somewhat,  as  he 
phrased  it,  in  business  affairs ;  yet  the  numerous  entries 
in  his  journal  throughout  this  period  concerning  the  Coal 
and  Coke  Railway,  the  mines,  and  collateral  matters  af 
forded  little  outward  indication  of  any  lessening  of  his 
labors.  He  was  wont,  however,  himself  to  remark  that 
too  much  should  not  be  expected  of  a  man  of  his  age, 
and  that  he  did  not  feel  that  he  was  capable  of  carrying 
on  alone  the  various  enterprises  with  which  he  was  so 
closely  identified. 

In  the  winter  of  1912  a  tacit  admission  on  his  part  that 
he  had  been  attempting  too  much  was  the  arrangement 
under  which  his  associates  took  more  direct  control  of 
the  railway  and  coal  and  timber  properties.  In  noting 
the  election  of  the  new  officers,  he  adds  the  comment :  "I 
was  eighty-nine."  A  year  earlier  he  had  relieved  him 
self  of  some  of  the  responsibilities  of  the  financial  insti 
tutions  with  which  he  was  connected  by  resigning,  and 
his  comment  on  one  of  these  resignations  is  equally 
brief :  "I  was  a  bank  president  for  fifty  years." 


294  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

While  relieving  himself  of  responsibility  for  the  prop 
erties  with  which  he  was  identified,  he  took  a  greater  in 
terest  than  ever  in  trade  and  industry  in  their  broader 
aspects.  His  activities  in  the  West  Virginia  Board  of 
Trade  have  been  described  in  an  earlier  chapter.  Some 
thing  also  has  been  said  of  his  relation  to  the  West  Vir 
ginia  Bankers'  Association.  This  was  largely  of  a  per 
sonal  character,  and  it  gave  him  opportunity  to  discuss 
the  general  subject  of  financing  and  banking  with  a  clear 
ness  which  showed  that  his  mental  powers  were  unim 
paired.  The  address  he  delivered  when  the  State  Asso 
ciation  met  at  Elkins  in  the  summer  of  1913  illustrates 
his  clear  mental  grasp.  He  was  then  in  his  eighty-eighth 
year.  On  neatly  typewritten  sheets  the  various  topics 
are  given  in  orderly  and  logical  arrangement,  and  they 
are  interspersed  with  numerous  memoranda  in  his  own 
handwriting. 

Natural  phenomena  interested  him  in  the  same  meas 
ure  as  current  events.  He  watched  with  eagerness,  like 
the  rest  of  the  world,  the  reappearance  of  Halley's  comet 
in  the  spring  of  1910  after  its  seventy-five  years'  absence, 
and  confessed  to  some  disappointment  that  when  the 
comet  did  appear  its  transit  was  not  up  to  his  expecta 
tions  as  a  spectacle  of  the  skies.  To  the  lad  of  twelve, 
three  quarters  of  a  century  earlier,  it  had  seemed  more 
brilliant;  "anyhow,  folks  made  more  fuss  about  it,"  he 
quaintly  remarked.  And  he  thought  it  had  appeared  in 
winter.  His  memory  was  not  at  fault.  The  transit  of 
Halley's  comet  had  been  in  mid-November,  1835. 

In  these  later  years  his  mind  turned  back  to  old  fra 
ternal  associations  and  he  renewed  the  memories  of  his 
membership  in  various  orders.  His  journal  recites  that 
he  became  a  Mason,  a  member  of  Hiram  Lodge,  at  Wes- 
ernport,  Maryland,  in  1860.  It  was,  however,  the  early 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  295 

associations  with  the  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  that  filled  his 
mind  and  time  most  completely.  His  life  literally  was 
linked  with  the  growth  of  this  order  in  the  United  States, 
for  his  recollections  went  back  to  Thomas  Wildey,  who 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  first  lodge,  organized  at 
Baltimore  in  1819,  and  who  continued  to  be  identified 
with  it  for  forty  years.  Mr.  Davis  knew  him,  and  had 
sat  in  the  same  lodge  with  him.  He  frequently  attended 
the  public  functions  of  the  Order. 

In  May,  1909,  Randolph  Lodge  presented  him  with  a 
jewel  in  commemoration  of  his  having  been  a  member 
sixty- four  years.  The  jewel  was  of  solid  gold  studded 
with  diamonds.  The  presentation  was  intensely  grati 
fying  to  him,  but  the  account  of  the  ceremony,  including 
his  own  speech  as  given  in  his  journal,  is  very  modest, 
with  a  passing  reference  to  newspaper  clippings  which 
give  a  full  account  of  the  ceremonies. 

Through  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  the  various 
lodges  of  Maryland  and  West  Virginia  continued  to 
honor  him.  On  the  ninety-second  anniversary  of  the 
Order  at  Baltimore,  in  April,  1911,  he  was  the  principal 
guest.  His  own  story  of  the  celebration  is  characteris 
tically  concise : 

April  26,  1911.  By  invitation  of  Maryland  Grand  Lodge  I 
made  about  a  half  hour  talk  to  a  great  crowd  at  Odd  Fellows 
Temple  in  Baltimore;  gave  a  short  history  of  Odd  Fellowship, 
referred  to  good  done  by  the  Order,  including  Rebekah  Order. 

Judge  Alston  G.  Dayton  in  a  reminiscent  letter  re 
garding  the  presentation  of  the  jewel  indicates  the  deep 
sentiment  of  Mr.  Davis  toward  the  Odd  Fellows'  Order : 

It  was  the  occasion  when  the  Odd  Fellows'  organization  pre 
sented  to  him  the  medal  which  it  confers  upon  its  members  who 
have  kept  up  their  membership  in  good  standing  for  fifty  con- 


296  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

tinuous  years.  The  presentation  was  made  the  occasion  for  one 
of  the  largest  gatherings  ever  held  in  the  city  of  Elkins.  It  was 
my  pleasant  duty  as  a  Past  Grand  Master  of  the  Order  to  make 
an  address  on  the  occasion,  and,  speaking  of  the  period  of  time 
covered  by  the  Senator's  life,  the  discoveries  that  had  been  made 
in  it,  the  progress  of  civilization  during  it,  I  said  the  Senator  had, 
by  Divine  Providence,  been  permitted  in  his  nearly  ninety  years 
of  life  to  see  and  have  part  in  more  important  affairs  than  were 
embraced  in  any  thousand-year  period  previous  to  that  time. 
The  thought  struck  him  so  forcibly  that,  in  my  deliberate  judg 
ment,  he  made  one  of  the  strongest,  if  not  the  strongest,  most  in 
teresting,  and  really  eloquent  addresses  of  his  life.  It  very  greatly 
affected  both  the  Senator  and  the  very  large  audience  of  his 
Elkins  neighbors  and  friends. 

As  the  years  grew  on  him  Mr.  Davis  sometimes  talked 
of  his  age,  but  always  in  a  matter-of-fact  way.  Cicero's 
reflections  on  Old  Age  would  have  made  no  appeal  to 
him,  because  he  was  not  given  to  philosophizing  or  mor 
alizing.  He  took  the  growing  years,  like  everything  else 
in  his  existence,  as  something  that  was  part  of  life  and 
therefore  not  to  be  set  apart  as  a  subject  for  considera 
tion  in  itself.  To  him  it  was  the  simple  and  natural 
thing  to  keep  on  planning  and  working.  His  mind  was 
habituated  to  looking  forward.  While  he  was  construct 
ing  his  last  railway,  some  comment  was  made  on  a  short- 
term  bond,  fifteen  years,  which  he  issued  as  part  of  the 
financing.  When  asked  why  the  term  was  so  short  he 
merely  replied :  "Why,  we  may  be  able  to  get  better  inter 
est  rates  in  fifteen  years,  and  we  don't  want  to  be  tied 
up  with  our  bonds  too  long." 

When  he  built  his  beautiful  home,  "Graceland,"  at 
Elkins,  the  estate  was  lined  with  poplars.  While  these 
grew  rapidly,  they  did  not  prove  to  be  in  keeping  with  the 
landscape,  and  he  therefore  had  them  taken  down  and 
replaced  by  maples.  To  a  member  of  his  family  who 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  297 

gently  reproached  him,  saying  that  he  would  be  without 
shade  the  rest  of  his  life,  he  replied:  "Oh,  no;  I  shall  be 
enjoying  the  maples."  And  this  proved  to  be  true.  He 
lived  to  enjoy  their  shade. 

One  day,  in  those  closing  years,  a  lawyer  who  had 
achieved  a  competency  and  was  about  to  retire,  was  his 
companion  on  the  train  going  over  one  of  the  Davis 
railway  lines.  Mr.  Davis  talked  to  him  as  the  train 
sped  along  about  the  way  the  timber  wilderness  had  been 
opened,  lands  cleared,  and  then  reforested.  The  spruce 
used  for  pulp-making  had  been  replanted.  Later  Mr. 
Davis  showed  him  several  tracts  that  had  been  cleared  of 
hickory  and  replanted,  commenting  casually  on  the  util 
ity  of  this  tree  as  one  of  the  reasons  that  had  impelled 
him  to  reforest  those  tracts. 

"How  long  does  it  take  hickory  to  grow?"  inquired  the 
lawyer.  "About  forty  years,"  was  the  reply.  "We  can 
always  use  hickory,  and  it  ought  to  be  kept  growing." 
The  lawyer  reflected  that  if  a  man  in  his  eighties  still 
found  something  to  do  replanting  forests  and  providing 
for  the  needs  of  future  generations,  it  was  not  quite  the 
thing  for  him  to  retire  in  middle  age  from  his  own  pro 
fession  in  which  his  career  had  been  both  honorable  and 
useful.  He  at  once  telegraphed  countermanding  the 
sale  of  his  law  library  and  continued  his  practice.  In 
nate  abhorrence  of  waste  had  something  to  do  with  re 
planting  the  hickory  and  the  spruce,  but  the  striking 
thing  was  that  Mr.  Davis  should  keep  on  doing  it  in 
his  old  age. 

Mr.  Davis  did  not  care  to  be  called  venerable  or  a  pa 
triarch,  and  even  the  title  of  Grand  Old  Man  of  West 
Virginia  was  not  always  pleasing  to  him.  But  he  some 
times  indulged  in  comparisons  with  other  old  men.  A 
New  England  clergyman  who  was  born  on  the  same  day 


298  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  same  year  used  to  write  him  annually,  as  the 
birth  anniversary  approached,  and  sign  himself,  "Your 
birthday  brother."  Mr.  Davis  enjoyed  these  letters,  but 
they  were  somewhat  too  copious  for  him,  and  in  dictating 
the  reply  he  once  remarked,  "The  minister  has  more  time 
to  write  than  I  have.  He  doesn't  have  anything  to  do, 
while  I  am  pretty  busy/' 

When  well  along  in  the  eighties,  he  had  an  interview 
on  some  business  matter  with  former  Vice-President 
Levi  P.  Morton  in  the  latter's  New  York  office.  Mr. 
Morton,  when  a  trifling  difference  of  opinion  arose,  jok 
ingly  remarked  that  Davis  ought  to  agree  with  him,  as 
he  was  the  older.  Coming  away  from  the  interview,  Mr. 
Davis  told  the  story  with  much  glee,  remarking:  "Mor 
ton  doesn't  seem  to  know  that  I  am  a  year  older  than 
he  is." 

A  Baltimore  friend  of  early  years  in  the  casual  meet 
ings  with  Mr.  Davis  plumed  himself  on  his  greater  age. 
Once  Mr.  Davis  showed  impatience  at  his  friend's  re 
miniscences,  and  after  the  prospective  centenarian  had 
left  he  said:  "Blank  is  getting  old;  he  has  told  that  story 
before."  Blank  was  then  ninety-seven. 

Occasionally  Mr.  Davis  would  be  compelled  to  admit 
that,  while  his  health  was  good  for  a  man  of  his  age, 
he  was  not  entirely  free  from  the  possibility  of  illness. 
At  times  he  suffered  severely  from  lumbago,  and  he  bore 
the  pain  with  a  stoicism  that  was  the  wonder  of  his  fam 
ily.  It  took  indirect  methods  of  persuasion  to  induce 
him  to  heed  the  doctor's  orders  and  lessen  his  activities. 
On  one  occasion  when  he  was  badly  run  down,  and  the 
doctor  advised  him  to  drop  business  and  go  away  for  a 
rest,  he  obstinately  refused,  insisting  that  he  knew  more 
about  his  health  than  the  physician  did. 

Strategy  had  to  be  employed.     A  member  of  his  f am- 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  299 

ily  approached  him  and  said  that  the  doctor  wanted  to 
talk  with  him  about  engineering  and  timber  cruising  and 
coal  mining  and  running  railways.  "What  does  he  want 
to  talk  about  those  things  for?"  was  the  inquiry.  "Oh," 
was  the  reply,  "he  has  concluded  that  he  can  do  better 
mining  coal  and  running  a  railway  than  in  practising  his 
profession  of  medicine/'  "May  be  he  can,"  was  the  re 
joinder.  "May  be  he  does  know  more  about  those  things 
than  about  medicine  and  health.  But  you  get  my  things 
ready  and  we'll  start  away  to-morrow  on  that  trip  he  told 
me  to  take." 

Mr.  Davis's  interest  in  politics  and  public  affairs  was 
undimmed  until  the  very  end.  West  Virginia  politics 
became  involved  in  a  turmoil  and  both  parties  were  rent 
by  factions.  The  way  in  which  he  followed  the  develop 
ments  is  attested  by  several  large  envelopes  with  clip 
pings  giving  full  accounts  of  the  various  manoeuvers  and 
of  the  politicians  engaged  in  them. 

Whenever  he  happened  to  be  in  Charleston  during  the 
meeting  of  the  Legislature  he  would  pay  a  visit  to  both 
branches.  In  the  Senate,  of  which  he  had  been  a  mem 
ber  for  four  years,  he  would  be  given  a  seat  of  honor  by 
the  presiding  officer,  and  usually  a  recess  would  be  taken 
in  which  members  of  all  parties  would  show  the  warm 
regard  in  which  they  held  him.  Usually,  too,  on  these 
visits  to  the  State  capital,  he  would  give  the  local  news 
papers  an  interview  in  which,  with  his  wonted  frankness, 
his  views  would  be  expressed  without  regard  to  expe 
diency. 

While  conservative  in  his  political  views  and  actions, 
Mr.  Davis  had  nothing  of  the  trimmer  in  him,  and  when 
ever  he  talked  on  politics  it  was  known  that  he  meant 
what  he  said.  By  his  own  example  he  had  shown 
throughout  his  life  the  duty  that  he  believed  the  citizen 


300  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

should  take  in  public  affairs,  and  this  was  not  confined  to 
the  State  and  nation ;  the  civic  welfare  of  the  town  and 
the  local  community  were  also  of  concern  to  him.  An 
inconvenient  journey  under  unfavorable  conditions  of 
travel,  undertaken  at  ninety  in  order  to  vote  at  a  local 
election,  was  evidence  of  this  concern. 

Spending  so  much  of  his  time  at  the  national  capital, 
Mr.  Davis's  interest  in  public  affairs  was  the  more  keen. 
His  visits  to  the  Senate  chamber  were  not  frequent ;  but 
on  one  occasion,  after  meeting  many  of  the  Senators  who 
had  not  even  begun  their  public  career  when  he  retired 
from  public  life,  he  caused  an  inquiry  to  be  made  con 
cerning  those  who  had  served  with  him  when  he  entered 
the  Senate  and  who  were  still  alive.  He  himself  was 
eighty-nine  years  old.  Of  his  former  colleagues  who 
were  then  living,  Cornelius  Cole  of  California  was 
ninety,  William  Pitt  Kellogg  of  Louisiana,  eighty-two; 
Adelbert  Ames  of  Mississippi,  seventy-seven;  William 
Sprague  of  Rhode  Island,  seventy-nine;  George  F.  Ed 
munds  of  Vermont,  eighty-five;  Alexander  Caldwell  of 
Kansas,  eighty-three ;  and  Powell  Clayton  of  Arkansas, 
eighty.  Of  these  Senatorial  contemporaries,  George  F. 
Edmunds  and  W.  P.  Kellogg  were  the  only  ones  who 
survived  Mr.  Davis. 

These  closing  years  brought  to  him  many  testimonials 
and  tributes  to  his  life-work.  The  anniversaries  of  his 
birth  never  failed  to  call  forth  articles  in  the  newspapers. 
When  he  was  ninety  there  was  a  whole  sheaf  of  news 
paper  felicitations.  Some  of  these  reviewed  his  long 
and  active  career  in  business  and  in  public  affairs,  while 
others  contented  themselves  with  an  interpretation  of  his 
life.  Said  a  Pittsburgh  journal : 

A  man  who  is  physically  and  mentally  well  and  strong  and  active 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  301 

at  ninety  is  an  inspiration  not  merely  to  men  of  ripe  years,  but  to 
young  men — to  young  men,  for  example,  who  are  beginning  life 
as  railroad  brakemen,  as  he  did,  or  in  some  similar  occupation 
which  does  not  appear  to  hold  out  large  hope  of  after  eminence 
and  affluence. 

A  newspaper  of  his  own  State  commented : 

His  has  been  a  remarkable  career ;  he  has  risen  from  the  ranks, 
beginning  life  in  humble  circumstances  and  attaining  many  years 
ago  a  position  of  influence  in  the  affairs  of  his  State  second  to 
that  of  no  man  born  or  living  within  its  borders.  He  has  con 
tributed  probably  more  than  any  other  one  man  to  its  development 
and  growth.  He  has  had  confidence  in  it  and  in  its  people,  and 
the  people  have  had  reciprocal  faith  in  him.  He  has  developed  its 
resources,  increased  its  wealth,  built  railroads  and  cities,  and 
creditably  represented  the  interests  of  its  people  in  positions  of 
trust  and  responsibility  to  which  they  have  called  him. 

When  he  reached  ninety-two  the  tributes  and  the  testi 
monials  were  even  more  appreciative.  One  of  the  West 
Virginia  newspapers  made  the  ninety-second  anniver 
sary  the  theme  for  this  comment: 

Ninety-two  years  ago  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  a  child  was  born 
who  was  destined  to  have  more  to  do  with  the  upbuilding  of  a 
sister  State,  then  unborn,  than  perhaps  any  other  man.  That 
child  was  Henry  Gassaway  Davis.  .  .  .  Mr.  Davis  has  been  a 
prominent  figure  in  the  business,  social,  and  political  life  of  his 
adopted  State.  He  has  grown  old  in  the  service  of  his  people, 
always  devoting  his  time  and  energy  to  the  upbuilding  of  their 
interest. 

More  than  a  score  of  years  have  passed  since  the  Grand  Old 
Man  of  West  Virginia,  as  he  has  long  been  affectionately  called, 
reached  and  passed  the  allotted  threescore  and  ten.  In  the  course 
of  human  life  he  cannot  be  expected  to  remain  many  more  years, 
but  it  is  the  earnest  hope  of  his  thousands  of  friends  throughout 
the  State  that  he  may  at  least  be  permitted  to  round  out  a  full 
century  of  useful  life.  When  the  time  for  his  passing  does  finally 


302  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OE 

come  it  will  leave  a  void  in  West  Virginia  such  as  the  loss  of  no 
other  resident  of  the  State  could  cause. 

A  Wheeling  journal,  after  summarizing  some  of  the 
events  of  his  life,  concluded  with  this  estimate : 

His  career  is  part  of  the  history  of  the  State.  His  enterprises 
have  helped  to  build  it  up,  and  he  has  represented  it  in  the  highest 
legislative  halls  of  the  land  as  well  as  in  the  councils  of  the  brainy, 
resourceful,  and  wealthy — the  men  who  do  things. 

Mr.  Davis's  last  summer  at  Elkins  was  an  ideal  one 
for  a  long  life  that  was  drawing  to  a  serene  close.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  earlier  he  had  selected  for  the  site 
of  his  home  a  wooded  hill  to  the  north  of  the  town,  on 
which  he  erected  a  commodious  residence  of  Norman 
architectureal  design,  which  he  named  "Graceland"  in 
honor  of  his  daughter  Grace.  The  house  was  built  of 
pink  sandstone  taken  from  a  near-by  quarry.  To  the 
east  of  this  residence  on  another  hill  was  the  summer 
home  of  Senator  Elkins,  named,  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Elkins, 
"Halliehurst." 

During  this  last  summer  Mr.  Davis  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  his  business  activities  visited  the  towns  that 
had  grown  up  from  the  wilderness  under  his  guiding 
hand — Thomas,  Davis,  Parsons,  Hendricks,  Bayard, 
Elaine  and  the  others  that  marked  the  progress  of  the 
West  Virginia  Central  Railway.  He  also  visited  Gassa- 
way  on  the  Coal  and  Coke  Railway,  and  the  other  new 
communities  that  also  owed  their  existence  to  his  enter 
prise. 

At  Elkins  he  found  his  greatest  enjoyment.  He  wan 
dered  over  the  farm,  with  all  its  modern  improvements, 
just  as  he  had  wandered  over  the  Woodstock  farm  as  a 
boy  eighty  years  earlier,  and  in  a  hundred  ways  he 
showed  how  keen  was  still  his  interest  in  rural  life.  His 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  303 

interest  was  even  greater  in  the  town  of  Elkins.  From 
his  room  at  "Graceland"  he  could  look  down  on  the 
smokestacks  of  the  factories  that  owed  their  existence  to 
him,  and  he  could  watch  the  locomotives  as  they  were 
shunted  in  and  out  of  the  shops  that  had  been  built  by 
him.  Here  was  a  thriving  community  of  8,000  busy, 
contented  people,  a  railroad  center,  where  a  quarter  of  a 
century  before  had  been  a  crossroads  with  a  blacksmith 
shop.  If  he  grew  tired  watching  the  industrial  activities 
spread  below  him,  his  eyes  could  wander  along  the  hor 
izon  of  the  mountains  that  inclosed  the  valley.  It  was  a 
scene  for  the  contemplation  and  the  meditation  of  the 
Railway  Builder. 

In  his  journal,  just  before  leaving  Elkins,  he  recorded, 
under  date  of  November  20,  1915:  "This  is  a  fine  fall." 
His  last  journey  to  the  national  capital  is  thus  described : 

December  18,  1915.  I  left  Elkins  for  Washington.  Stopped 
overnight  at  Gassaway.  Left  Gassaway,  spent  day  at  Charleston, 
came  to  Washington  on  night  of  iQth;  am  at  Hallie's  (Mrs.  El- 
kins's).  While  in  Charleston  called  upon  Gov.  Hatfield,  Secre 
tary  Reed,  and  Auditor  Dent.  Also  at  Davis  Children's  Home; 
about  forty  little  ones  there.  They  have  found  homes  for  845 
children. 

This  was  the  Child's  Shelter  which  he  supported.  On 
reaching  Washington  the  following  morning  he  went  to 
church  with  Mrs.  Elkins. 

The  winter  in  Washington  was  after  his  usual  routine, 
He  spent  several  hours  every  day  at  his  office.  Social 
intercourse  claimed  much  of  his  attention.  He  attended 
a  few  formal  functions,  but  he  enjoyed  much  more  in 
formal  dinners  and  luncheons  at  the  Elkins  home.  He 
especially  enjoyed  being  a  guest  at  a  luncheon  given  to 
ladies,  he  being  the  only  man  permitted  to  be  present. 


304  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"The  women's  talk  is  much  more  interesting,"  he  used 
to  say,  and  then  would  add  quaintly:  "They  are  all  so 
attentive  when  there's  only  one  man." 

His  own  observations  on  the  winter  season  were  re 
corded  in  two  entries  in  his  journal : 

December  25,  1915.  Christmas.  Weather  good.  Country 
generally  is  prosperous,  and  looks  good. 

February  15,  1916.  Weather  cold.  Railway  and  coal  mines 
doing  fairly  well.  I  am  in  Washington,  staying  with  Hallie. 

A  few  days  after  this  entry  was  made  he  took  a  bad 
cold  which  developed  into  a  case  of  the  grippe.  He  did 
not  himself  consider  it  as  serious,  although  he  realized 
that  his  powers  of  recuperation  were  getting  feebler. 
Until  the  last  he  was  well  enough  to  see  the  members  of 
the  family,  and  it  was  rarely  that  some  of  them  were  not 
in  the  sickroom.  He  talked  of  current  matters  with  his 
usual  conciseness  and  deprecated  the  family  taking  too 
much  trouble  about  him. 

There  was  a  pause  in  the  progress  of  his  illness  which 
appeared  to  indicate  a  temporary  improvement.  So 
favorable  seemed  the  change  that  on  the  night  of  March 
10  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Elkins,  was  bidden  by  the  physi 
cians  to  go  to  her  own  room  for  a  good  night's  sleep, 
while  the  other  members  of  the  family  were  also  told 
that  there  was  likely  to  be  no  change  for  the  worse.  Ac 
cordingly  they  retired.  Shortly  after  midnight  the 
change  came  unexpectedly,  and  an  hour  later  Mr.  Davis 
passed  away  almost  as  in  a  quiet  sleep.  Funeral  services 
were  held  at  the  Elkins  home  in  Washington,  and  then 
the  remains  were  taken  to  Elkins  and  interred  in  the 
beautiful  Maplewood  Cemetery  beside  his  wife  and 
among  the  kindred  for  whom  he  had  prepared  this  final 
resting-place. 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  305 

Eulogies  of  his  career,  interpretations  of  his  life  and 
work,  rilled  the  journals  after  his  death.  The  estimate 
of  what  he  had  wrought  for  his  own  State  was  crystal 
lized  in  this  paragraph  in  the  Wheeling  Intelligencer: 

Day-dreams  of  the  Piedmont  station  agent  transformed  into 
perpetual  realities.  .  .  .  Towns,  mills,  railroads,  villages,  cities, 
churches,  schools,  stand  monuments  to  meet  the  quiet  gaze  of  the 
man  who  brought  them  to  a  thriving  existence. 

Reviews  of  the  period  covered  by  this  remarkable  life 
were  not  confined  to  local  achievements.  Nor  should 
they  be.  The  times  in  which  he  lived,  the  events  of 
which  Henry  G.  Davis  was  a  part,  covered  almost  a  cen 
tury  of  history.  He  was  a  babe  of  a  fortnight  when 
President  James  Monroe  enunciated  the  Doctrine  with 
which  he  himself  three  quarters  of  a  century  later  was  to 
become  identified  through  his  participation  as  a  member 
of  International  American  Conferences.  He  was  a  year 
old  when  Lafayette  visited  the  United  States  and  revived 
the  memories  of  France's  contribution  to  the  Revolution. 
He  was  in  advancing  childhood  when  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  President,  and  was  an  observant,  growing 
boy  during  the  administration  of  Andrew  Jackson.  A 
child  old  enough  to  see  the  venerable  and  imposing 
Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  lay  the  corner-stone  for 
the  first  railway  in  the  United  States,  he  lived  to  see  in 
operation  a  quarter  of  a  million  miles  of  railroad  to  the 
building  of  which  he  had  contributed  his  share. 

His  first  vote,  that  for  Henry  Clay,  was  cast  in  the 
year  when  the  first  telegraphic  message  was  transmitted 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington.  That  was  the 
year,  too,  in  which  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  whose  term  as 
President  was  to  run  parallel  with  his  career  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  was  born.  He  was  in  vigorous 


306  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

young  manhood,  demonstrating  his  abilities  for  railway 
management,  when  Alton  B.  Parker,  who  was  to  head 
the  ticket  fifty-two  years  later  for  President  with  Henry 
G.  Davis  as  the  candidate  for  Vice-President,  was  born. 
He  was  thirty-five  years  of  age,  the  period  that  Dante 
marks  as  the  arch  of  life,  when  Theodore  Roosevelt  was 
born,  and  the  pony  express,  the  forerunner  of  the  trans 
continental  railways,  was  established  between  St.  Louis 
and  San  Francisco. 

Looking  beyond  the  boundaries  of  his  own  country,  he 
was  a  lad  of  twelve  when  Queen  Victoria  ascended  the 
throne  of  England,  and  he  lived  through  that  reign,  and 
more  than  a  score  of  years  after  the  Golden  Jubilee.  He 
was  in  public  life  and  political  leadership  in  his  own 
State,  and  at  the  threshold  of  his  career  as  a  Senator  of 
the  United  States,  when  Sedan  fell,  Paris  capitulated, 
and  victorious  Prussia  established  the  German  Empire 
over  the  body  of  prostrate  France.  He  lived  to  see  the 
Empire  thus  established  plunge  Europe  into  a  war  that 
was  to  become  a  world  war  without  parallel  and  to  in 
volve  his  own  country  at  the  period  most  critical  for  the 
cause  of  civilization. 

He  lived  through  the  War  with  Mexico,  the  Civil  War, 
and  the  Spanish- American  War,  and  as  a  citizen  and  a 
public  man,  discharging  official  duties,  he  had  his  part  in 
all  the  national  responsibilities  growing  out  of  those 
wars.  In  every  phase  of  his  career — as  a  railway 
builder,  in  the  development  of  the  natural  resources  of 
his  own  State,  as  a  guiding  force  in  the  building  of  the 
commonwealth  with  which  his  public  life  was  identified, 
as  a  factor  in  the  affairs  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  on 
their  international  side,  as  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  a  trusted  political  leader — the  constructive 
character  of  his  mind  was  always  manifest.  And 


HENRY  GASSAWAY  DAVIS  307 

throughout  his  long  and  varied  career  he  was  always  in 
touch  with  his  own  kind.  He  literally  worked  as  if  he 
were  to  live  forever,  and  lived  as  if  he  were  to  die  to 
morrow. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


Abolitionists,  22 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  305 
Agricultural    College    at    Morgan- 
town,  46 

Alabama  claims,  81 
Alexis,  Grand  Duke,  162 
Allen,  William,  249,  250 
Allison,  William  B.,  58,  59,  235,  236 
Alzamora,  Isaac,  113,  116 
Ames,  Adelbert,  300 
Anadon,  Lorenzo,   112 
Ancient  South  River  Club,  4 
Anne  Arundel  County,  4,  5,  6,  10,  15 
Armstead,  Bessie,  228 
Arriaga,  Don  Antonio  Laza,  127 
Arthur,  Chester  A.,  106 
Ashland,  23 

Atkinson,  Governor,  218 
Azpiroz,  Don  Manuel  de,  126 

Baer,  George  F.,  245 

Baez,  Cecilio,  113 

Baker,  George  F.,  133 

Baker,  Lewis,  48,  51 

Balmaceda,  President,  113 

Baltimore:  at  time  of  Mr.  Davis* 
birth,  7  et  seq.;  n,  16,  20,  195, 
305 

Baltimore,  Lord,  3  et  seq.,  223 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad:  char 
tered,  9,  10 ;  test  by,  of  Peter 
Cooper's  engine,  n  et  seq.;  de 
velopment  of,  project,  12  et  seq.; 
Caleb  Davis  in  relation  to,  13; 
Henry  G.  Davis  becomes  brake- 
man  on,  17  et  seq.;  attitude  of 
Virginia  Legislature  toward,  25, 
26;  relation  of,  to  Civil  War,  30 
et  seq.;  90,  91,  103,  225,  243,  246 

Banking,  pioneer,  28 

Bantz,  Judge  Gideon,  25;  death  of, 
27 

Bantz,  Katharine  Anne:  marriage 
of,  and  Henry  G.  Davis,  25;  chil 
dren  of,  228;  character  sketch  of, 


229,  230;  death  of,  230.  See  also 
H.  G.  Davis 

Barnum,  William  H.,  73 

Barra,  Francisco  de  la,  116 

Barrett,  John,  ill 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.:  55,  81,  88,  97; 
campaign,  137  et  seq.;  140,  142, 
143,  163,  235,  243;  quoted  in  re 
gard  to  Garfield's  assassination, 
266;  quoted  on  own  Presidential 
nomination,  267;  views  of,  on 
Tilden's  candidacy,  268;  political 
opinions  of,  271 ;  quoted  on  B.  F. 
Butler,  271 ;  tributes  of,  to  H.  G. 
Davis,  271,  272;  302 

Beale,  Mr.  138 

Beck,  James  B.,  73 

Bedford  Springs,  293 

Belgium,  277 

Berkeley  Springs,  42 

Bermejo,  Antonio,  112 

Bermuda,  277,  279 

Berwind,  E.  J.,  188 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  278 

Blaine,  James  G. :  Speaker  of  the 
House,  55;  73,  74;  tribute  of,  to 
Senator  Davis,  89,  97;  quoted, 
98;  speech  of,  at  International 
Congress,  107;  review  of  First 
International  Congress  by,  no; 
140,  163;  friendship  between,  and 
Senator  Davis,  234,  235;  271,  302 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  Jr.,  55,  56 

Bland,  R.  P.,  58 

Bliss,  Cornelius,  107 

Bogg,  Mr.,  190 

Boreman,  Governor:  cited,  38; 
message  of,  cited,  42 

Bower,  W.  H.,  189,  191,  192 

Braxton  County,  189 

Brennan  Ignatius,  poem  by,  on 
West  Virginia's  "Grand  Old 
Man,"  205,  206 

Brown,  Elizabeth  A.,  mother  of  Ar 
thur  Pue  Gorman,  7 


309 


3io 


INDEX 


Brown,  John  Riggs,  6 

Brown,  Joshua,  6 

Brown,  Louisa  Warfield,  mother  of 
Henry  Gassaway  Davis:  6;  mar 
riage  of,  and  Caleb  Davis,  7, 
224 

Brown,  Lieutenant-Commander  M. 
R.  G.,  228 

Brown,  Mr.,  51 

Brown,  Captain  Samuel,  6 

Brown,  William  Howard,  223 

Browne,  Thomas,  5 

Browns,  and  the  Davises,  3  et  seq. 

Bryan,  William  Jennings :  part 
played  by  H.  G.  Davis  in  free- 
silver  campaign  of,  147;  tribute 
of,  to  Mr.  Davis,  147,  148;  com 
ment  on,  in  Mr.  Davis'  journal, 
151 ;  in  Convention  of  1904,  at 
St.  Louis,  168  et  seq.;  visit  of,  to 
Mr.  Davis,  179;  support  of,  for 
President  by  Mr.  Davis,  287,  288 

Buchanan,  James,  141 

Buchanan,  W.  I.,  in,  118 

Buckhannon  River,  188,   191,  192 

Buenos  Aires  Conference  (Fourth 
International  American),  134,  135 

Burke,  United  States  Treasurer, 
200 

Bnrnsville,   190 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  views  of 
Thomas  F.  Bayard  on,  271 

Buxton,  Upton,  224 

Calderon,  Manual  Alvarez,  113,  127 

Caldwell,  Alexander,  300 

Calhoun,  John  Caldwell,  22 

California,  30,  277 

Callahan,  Professor  James  Morton: 
quoted  on  West  Virginia's  indus 
trial  awakening,  91 ;  quoted,  101- 
103 

Calverts,  the:  Lord  Barons  of 
Baltimore,  3  et  seq. 

Calvo,  Joaquin  Bernardo,  114 

Cambon,  Monsieur,  240 

Camden,  Colonel  Johnson  N. :  40, 
47,  48;  election  of,  to  Senate,  80, 
97,  168,  243,  277 

Cameron,  Simon,  55 

Cannon,  Joseph  G.,  58 

Cape  Colony,  229 


Caperton,  Allan  T.,  67 

Carbo,  Louis  Felipe,  113 

Carnegie,  Andrew :  126,  240 ;  letters 
of,  quoted,  241,  273,  374 

Carroll,  Charles,  of  Carrolltown: 
laying  by,  of  cornerstone  of  first 
United  States  railroad,  9;  quoted, 
10 ;  305 

Carroll's  Manor,  15 

Casasus,  Joaquin,  115 

Cassatt,  A.  J. :  124,  244;  Mr.  Davis* 
estimate  of,  245 

Cavey,  Beale,  12,  13 

Chaffee,  Jerome  B.,  97 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  55 

Charleston,  Clendennin  &  Sutton 
Railway,  188,  190 

Charleston,  S.  C,  views  of  Mr. 
Davis  on,  278 

Charleston,  W.  Va.,  48,  187,  190, 
191,  192,  193,  204,  209,  218 

Chatman,  Engineer,  190 

Chavero,  Alfredo,  115 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal  project, 
8  et  seq. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway:  91, 
187 

Children's  Society  of  West  Vir 
ginia,  218 

Child's  Shelter.  181,  218,  219,  304 

Childs,  George  W.,  244 

Cicero,  296 

Cincinnati  Enquirer,  252 

Civil  War:  business  conditions  in 
upper  Potomac  region  at  out 
break  of,  29;  importance  of  B.  & 
O.  Railway  to  Union  cause  dur 
ing,  30  et  seq.;  West  Virginia 
and  the,  34-36;  38,  91,  203,  306 

Clark,  Champ,  184 

Clarksburg,  188,  204 

Clay,  Henry :  friendship  of,  and  H. 
G.  Davis,  22  et  seq.;  105,  305 

"Clay's  Compromise,"  22 

Clayton,  Powell,  56,  300 

Cleveland,  Grover:  106;  before 
Democratic  National  Convention, 
138;  Mr.  Davis'  account  of  con 
ference  with,  139,  140;  formation 
of,  cabinet,  141 ;  unanimous  nomi 
nation  of,  at  St.  Louis  Conven 
tion,  142;  Mr.  Davis'  views  on 


INDEX 


311 


second  candidacy  of,  145,  146; 
before  Chicago  Democratic  Con 
vention,  146;  164;  indorsement 
by,  of  Judge  Parker,  168;  236, 
252,  263 ;  apology  to  Mr.  Davis 
from,  quoted,  264 

Coal :  Senator  Davis'  defense  of 
tariff  on,  82,  83;  development  of, 
resources  of  West  Virginia  by 
Mr.  Davis,  186  et  seq, 

Coal  and  Coke  Railway :  181 ;  pro 
jection  of,  by  Mr.  Davis,  188  et 
seq.;  story  of  construction  of, 
told  in  Mr.  Davis'  journal,  189 
et  seq.;  completion  of,  192;  195, 
212,  293,  303 

Coal  and  Iron  Railway,  185 

Cockrell,  Francis  M.,  76,  106,  170 

Cocroft,  51 

Codecido,  Emilio  Bello,  113 

Cole,   Cornelius,  300 

College  Board  of  the  Northern 
Presbyterian  Church,  212 

Colorado,  74 

Comstock,  Dr.  Thomas,  218,  219 

Confederates :  raids  of,  in  upper 
Potomac  region,  29;  30;  status  of 
ex-,  38,  41 ;  controversy  over 
status  of  ex-,  terminated,  46;  58 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  55 

Connellsville,  188 

Coolidge,  T.  Jefferson,  107 

Copen  Run,  190 

Corcoran,  W.  W.,  240 

Corea,  Luis  F.,  114 

Correspondence,  political  history 
revealed  in,  248-273 

Cowan,  John  K.,  245 

Cox,  Samuel  S.,  55 

Cuba,  no,  277 

Cuban  War,  pages  on,  from  Mr. 
Davis'  journal,  239,  240 

Cumberland,  Md.,  18,  20,  22,  186 

Czar  of  Russia,  in  relation  to  rail 
ways,  12 


Dailey,  C.  Wood,  150,  172 

Daniels,  Senator,  178 

Dante,  306 

Davila,  Fausto,  114 

Davis,  Caleb:  parentage  of,  father 


of  H.  G.  Davis,  5  et  seq.;  6.  7; 
marriages  of,  8  et  seq.;  223,  224 

Davis,   David,  74 

Davis,  Eli,  5 

Davis,  Eliza  Ann,  7 

Davis,  Elizabeth,  7,  224 

Davis,  Grace,  228 

Davis,  Hallie,  228,  277 

Davis,  Henry  Gassaway:  parentage 
of,  3  et  seq.;  epochal  events  in 
youth  of,  9  et  seq.;  early  advan 
tages  of,  12,  13;  reverses  of,  13 
et  seq.;  stone-quarryman,  15 ;  ex 
periences  of,  as  B.  &  O.  brake- 
man,  18,  19;  quoted  on  early  rail 
road  methods,  18,  19;  promotion 
of,  to  conductor,  19,  20;  brought 
under  influence  of  Henry  Clay, 
23,  24;  courtship  and  marriage 
of,  25 ;  station  agent  at  Piedmont, 
26,  27 ;  general  merchant,  27 ; 
opens  up  timber  resources  of 
Piedmont  region,  28;  establishes 
Piedmont  Savings  Bank,  28;  first 
acquisition  of  undeveloped  land 
by,  29;  and  Civil  War,  29  et  seq.; 
interview  with  Lincoln,  31,  32; 
invests  in  timberlands,  32,  33 ; 
early  public  services  of,  34  et 
seq.;  attitude  of,  toward  separa 
tion  of  Virginia  territory  from 
Old  Dominion,  35,  36;  en 
ters  W.  Va.  Legislature,  36;  ex 
tracts  from  journal  of,  40,  42; 
election  of,  to  West  Virginia  Sen 
ate,  42;  delegate  to  Democratic 
National  Convention,  43 ;  extracts 
from  journal  of,  47,  48;  as  leader 
of  State  Senate,  51 ;  journal, 
quoted,  51;  letter  of,  to  wife,  52; 
elected  to  United  States  Senate, 
52 ;  quoted  on  West  Virginia  debt 
question,  52;  Senator,  first  term, 
54  et  seq.;  assignment  of,  to 
Claims  Committee,  57;  on  Appro 
priations  Committee,  59;  speech 
of,  on  West  Virginia  war  claims, 
59-61 ;  argument  of,  against  infla 
tion,  62  et  seq.;  views  of,  on  Na 
tional  Bank  Act,  62,  63 ;  on  Com 
mittee  of  Transportation  Routes, 
64;  extracts  from  journal  of,  67; 


312 


INDEX 


views  of,  on  Treasury  accounts 
and  Government  bookkeeping, 
67-69;  journal  of,  quoted  on 
campaign  for  reelection  to  Sen 
ate,  70;  activities  of,  in  second 
term  as  Senator,  73  et  seq.;  views 
of,  on  relation  between  capital 
and  labor,  75,  76;  retirement  of, 
from  Senate,  85  et  seq.;  Senato 
rial  valedictory  of,  in  journal, 
89;  the  Railway  Builder,  90-104; 
entries  in  journal  of,  on  prospect 
ing,  93-96;  extracts  from  jour 
nal,  98,  99,  100;  and  First  Inter 
national  Conference,  105-120 ; 
speech  of,  at  Mexican  Confer 
ence,  117,  118;  and  Pan-American 
Railway,  121-135;  political  activi 
ties  of,  as  private  citizen,  136- 
151;  extracts  from  journal  of,  on 
political  situation,  140-143;  jour 
nal  of,  quoted,  148-151;  social 
life  of,  152-165;  excerpts  from 
journal  of,  on  life  at  Deer  Park 
and  Washington,  153-165;  Vice- 
Presidential  nomination  of,  171; 
entries  in  journal  in  relation  to 
nominating  convention,  171,  172; 
speech  of,  on  return  home  after 
nomination,  172,  173;  formal  no 
tification  of  nomination,  176; 
speech  by,  on  acceptance  of  nomi 
nation,  177,  178;  entries  in  jour 
nal  on  defeat,  180;  support  of 
Wilson-Marshall  ticket  by,  184; 
business  interests  of,  enumerated 
in  journal,  185;  activities  and  re 
sponsibilities  of  old  age  of,  186- 
194;  extracts  from  journal,  186, 
188,  189,  190-194;  quoted  on  in 
strumentality  of  railroads  in 
State  development,  200;  speech 
of,  upon  anniversary  of  first  Bat 
tle  of  Philippi,  203;  "State  Day" 
speech  of,  206  et  seq.;  tributes  to, 
as  pioneer  in  upbuilding  of  West 
Virginia,  196-209 ;  benefactions 
and  charities  of,  210-221 ;  attitude 
of,  toward  family  and  kindred, 
222-231 ;  brothers  and  sisters  of, 
224;  extracts  from  journal  of,  re 
garding  family  matters,  224-228, 


230,  231;  tribute  of,  to  brother 
Thomas  B.  Davis,  226;  eulogy 
paid  by,  to  Stephen  B.  Elkins, 
quoted,  228;  children  of,  and 
Katharine  Bantz,  228;  marriages, 
births,  and  deaths  in  family  of, 
228  et  seq.;  death  of  wife  of,  230; 
tribute  to  married  life  written  by, 
in  journal,  230;  famous  contem 
poraries  of,  232-247;  importance 
of  journal,  275  et  seq.;  personal 
characteristics  of,  275-291 ;  clos 
ing  years  of,  292  et  seq.;  extracts 
from  journal  of,  295,  303,  304;  ill 
ness  and  death  of,  304;  resume 
of  career  of,  305-307 

Davis,  Henry  G.,  Jr.,  father's  trib 
ute  to,  216;  death  of,  at  sea,  228 

Davis,  John,  5,  7,  228 

Davis  John  B.,  7,  224 

Davis,  Kate,  228 

Davis,  Nathan,  224 

Davis,  Robert,  5 

Davis,  Thomas,  gentleman:  arrival 
of,  in  Maryland,  5 

Davis,  Thomas  Brown:  7;  cited, 
13;  27,  193,  215,  224;  closeness  of 
tie  between,  and  H.  G.  Davis, 
225 

Davis,  William  R.,  27,  224 

Davis  Children's  Home.  See 
Child's  Shelter 

Davis  Coal  and  Coke  Company,  185 ; 
Davis  and  Elkins  College :  181 ; 
permanent  endowment  of,  213 

Davis  National  Bank,  185 

Davises,  part  played  by  the,  and 
the  Browns  in  Maryland's  his 
tory,  3  et  seq. 

Davison,  H.  P.,  133 

Dawes,  Senator,  81 

Day,  Secretary,  240 

Dayton,  Judge  Alston  G. :  cited,  49, 
50;  quoted  on  Odd  Fellowship, 
295,  296 

Declaration  of  Independence,  286 

Deer  Park:  life  at,  152-165;  224, 
253,  276 

Democratic  National  Convention  of 
1904,  The,  166  et  seq. 

Denver,  277 

Department  of   Agriculture,   advo- 


INDEX 


313 


cacy  of,  by  Senator  Davis,  77  ei 

seq. 

Depew,  Chauncey  M.,  244,  245 
Dewey,  Admiral,  240 
Diaz,  Porfirio:  107,  115;  Mr.  Davis' 

estimate  of,  238,  239;  279 
Dom  Pedro,  162 
Downey,  O.  D.,  47 
Drexel,  A.  J.,  244 

Eaton,  W.  W.,  67 

Edmunds,  George  R,  55,  300 

Electoral  Commission,  Mr.  Davis* 
support  of,  71 

Elk  River,  190,  192 

Elkins,  Stephen  B. :  58,  140;  in 
Harrison's  cabinet,  145;  150,  179, 
186,  193,  212,  213,  216,  220;  trib 
ute  of  Mr.  Davis  to,  228 ;  293,  302 

Elkins,  W.  L.,  245 

Elkins,  W.  Va. :  189,  190,  191,  192, 
193,  200 ;  erection  of  church  for 
colored  Baptists  at,  by  Mr.  Davis, 

215;    220,    222,    228,    287,    292,    302, 

303 

Ellicott  Mills,  10,  n,  12,  223 
Elmore,  Alberto,  113 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  286 
Empire   Coal   and   Coke   Company, 

185 
Erie   Canal,   attitude   of   Baltimore 

toward  building  of,  8  et  seq. 
Estee,  M.  M.,  107 
Estupinian,  Baltazar,  114 

Fairbanks,  Charles  W.,  181 
Fairfax  Stone,  32* 

First  International  American  Con 
gress,  237 

Flick,  W.  H.  H.,  46,  47 
Flower,  Mr.,  243 
Folger,  Secretary,  243 
Force  Bill,  146 
Fortress  Monroe,  293 
Fortuol,  J.  Gil,  114 
Forty-second  Congress,  55-58 
Forty-third  Congress,  58  et  seq. 
Forty-fourth  Congress,  67  et  seq. 
Forty-fifth  Congress,  73  et  seq. 
Forty- sixth  Congress,  76  et  seq. 
Foster,  Volney  W.,  in 


Fourth   Legislature   of   West   Vir 
ginia,  36  et  seq. 
Fox,  Williams  C,  112 
Frametown,  190 
Frederick,  Md.,  10,  17,  18,  25 
French  Creek,  189,  190 
Fugitive  slave  laws,  22 


Galvais,  Dr.  M.  M.,  114 

Gana,  Blest,  113 

Garfield,  James  A.:  55,  253;  corre 
spondence  between  Secretary 
Windom  and  Mr.  Davis  in  rela 
tion  to,  254 

Garland,  Augustus  H. :  73 ;  note 
from,  258 

Garrett,  John  W. :  103;  quoted  on 
"board  of  directors,"  243,  254 

Gassaway,  Brice  J.,  6 

Gassaway,  Henry,  5 

Gassaway,  Captain  John  Henry,  6 

Gassaway,  Colonel  Nicholas,  promi 
nence  of,  in  colonial  Maryland, 
4,6 

Gassaway,  Sarah,  6 

Gassaway,  Captain  Thomas,  4,  5 

Gassaway,  W.  Va. :  191,  193,  212; 
church  erected  at,  by  Mr.  Davis, 

215 

General  Amnesty  Bill,  58 
Geological  Survey  of  West  Va.,  198 
Georges  Creek,  29 
German  Empire,  306 
Gettysburg  Address,  Lincoln's,  206 
Gibbons,  Cardinal,  157,  161 
Gilmer  County,  189 
Glasscock,  Governor,  197,  204 
Goff,    Nathan,    Sr.,   39;    letter    of, 

quoted,  258,  259 
Goff,  Nathan,  Jr.,  letter  of,  quoted, 

258 
Golden  Jubilee  of   West  Virginia, 

program  of,  205 
Goodf  ellowship :      estate      of      the 

Davises    and    the    Browns,    5    et 

seq.;  12,  14,  18;  Mr.  Davis'  love 

for,  222,  223 

Gordon,  General  John  B.,  59 
Gorman,  Arthur  Pue:  7,  13,  88,  145, 

163,   178,  223;   relations  between, 

and    Mr.    Davis,    226,   227;    243, 


314 


INDEX 


245;  letters  of,  on  Parker-Davis 
campaign  quoted,  265 

Gorman,  Peter,  13 

Gould,  George  J.,  191 

Goulds,  the,  186 

"Graceland,"  296,  302* 

Grafton,  48 

Grant,  U.  S. :  55,  59 ;  veto  of  Infla 
tion  Bill  by,  64;  162 

Grassy  Run,  189,  190 

Greeley,  Horace,  57 

Green,  Governor,  42 

Greenberry,  Colonel  Nicholas,  3,  4 

Guachalla,  Fernando  P.,  112 

Hagerstown,  186 
Hall,  Leonard  S.,  43,  44 
Halley's  comet,  294 
"Halliehurst,"  302 

Hambleton,  John  A.:  boyhood 
friendship  of,  for  Mr.  Davis,  12; 

97 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  55 

Hampshire  County,  29,  40 

Hancock,  Winfield  S.,  80 

Hancock's,  glimpses  of  life  at,  dur 
ing  Polk's  administration,  21,  22 

Harmon,  Judson,  184 

Harper's  Ferry,  23 

Harris,  J.  S.,  245 

Harrison,  Benjamin:  88,  106,  124, 
135;  nominee  of  Republican 
party,  142",  143 ;  relations  between, 
and  the  Davises,  143,  144  e*  seQ.-> 
160,  161 ;  personal  estimate  of,  by 
Mr.  Davis,  237 ;  quoted,  261 ;  let 
ter  of,  in  regard  to  investments 
quoted,  262,  263 

Harrison,  Carter,  266 

Hay,  John,  in 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B. :  39;  cam 
paign,  71 ;  administration,  73  et 
seq.,  236,  250,  305,  306 

Hearst,  William  R.,  168  ^ 

Helper,  Hinton  Rowan,  cited,  122 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A.,  138,  236, 
237,  302 

Henry,  Patrick,  203 

Hill,  Benjamin  H.,  73 

Hill,  David  B.,  170,  178 

Hoar,  George  F.,  74 

Hoge,  Reverend  Moses  D.,  216 


Hoge,  Mr.,  243 
Holt,  John  H.,  202 
Houston,  General  Sam,  22 
Howard,  Governor,  15,  16,  18 
Howe,  Postmaster-General,  243 
Hubbard,  Governor  W.  P.,  201 
Huntington,  199 

Inflation  Bill :  59-63 ;  veto  of,  64 
Ingalls,  John  James,  59,  81 
Intercontinental     Railway     Survey 

Commission,  245 

International      American      Confer 
ences,  105-120 
International     High      Commission, 

135 
Interstate    Commerce    Commission, 

245 
Iroquois  Club,  266 

Jackson,  Andrew,  305 
Jacobs,  J.  J.,  47 
James  River,  197 
Jefferson  County,  45 
Johnson,  Andrew,  67 
Jones,  John  P.,  59 
Jowles,  Henry,  Esquire,  4 

Kanawha  Canal,  39,  197 

Kanawha    and    Michigan    Railway, 

187 

Keenan,  C,  7 

Kellogg,  William  Pitt,  55,  300 
Kelly,  John,  138 
Kenna,  Representative,  243 
Kerens,  Richard  C.,  124,  194 
Kernan,  Francis,  67,  138 
Kerr,  Michael,  67 
Key,  J.  W.,  40 
Keyser,  William,  97,  98 
Killarney,  277 
Kings,  190 

Kirkwood,  Samuel,  74 
Knapp,  M.  A.,  2*45 

Lafayette:  visit  of,  to  United 
States,  8,  305 

Lamar,  L.  Q.  C.,  58,  73 

Lamb,  Daniel:  quoted  on  separa 
tion  of  West  Virginia  from  Old 
Dominion,  36;  51 


INDEX 


315 


Latrobe,  John  H.  B.,  cited  on  Balti 
more,  8 

Lazo-Arriaga,  Antonio,  114 

Lee,  Arthur,  228 

Leo  XIII,  157 

Leonard,  Jose,    114 

"  Let-Ups,"  significance  of,  41 

Libau,  228 

Lincoln,  President:  attitude  of,  to 
ward  B.  &  O.  Railway  during 
War,  30  et  seq.;  interview  with 
Mr.  Davis,  31,  32;  quoted  on  Mr. 
Davis's  usefulness  to  Union  cause, 
32 

Linthecomb,  Reverend  Mr.,  7 

Little  Hand,  190 

Logan,  John  A.,  55 

London,  277 

Loudenslager  Hill,  8 

Louisville,  278 

Macedo,  Pablo,  115 

MacCorkle,  William  A.:  168;  letter 

of,  217;  218 
Madison,  James,  203 
Maine,  blowing  up  of,  239,  240 
Manchester  Railway,  9 
Manila,  240 

Marmol,  Manual   Sanchez,   116 
Marshall  Coal  and  Coke  Company, 

185 

Marshall,  John,  203 

Martinez,  Joaquin  Walker,  113 

Masons :  provisions  of  Mr.  Davis 
for,  220,  295 

Mathews,  W.  B.,  220 

Matte,  Augusto,  113 

McAdoo,  Secretary,  135 

McDonald,  Joseph  E.,  67 

McGraw,  John  T.,  150 

McKinley,  William,  74,  ill,  150 

McKinney,  Owen  S.,  168 

McLane,  Representative,  243 

McLean,  John  R.,  252 

McPherson,  J.  R.,  73 

McWhorter,  Henry  Clay,  37 

Maryland,  leaves  from,  colonial  his 
tory,  3  et  seq. 

Mendonga,  Salvadore  de,  107 

Merou,  Garcia,  112 

Mexican  War,  23,  240,  306 

Mexico,  22,  no,  186,  238,  277,  279 


Mill  Creek  Coal  and  Coke  Com 
pany,  185 

Missouri,  the,  228 

Missouri  Compromise,  286 

Monkeston,  the,  229 

Monroe  Doctrine,  105,  149,  305 

Monroe,  James,  305 

Moore,  Mr.,  189 

Morgan,  John  T.,  76,  82 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont:  244;  confes 
sion  of  faith  of,  290 

Mormons,  277 

Morrill,  Justin  R,  55 

Morrill,  Lot  M.,  55,  59,  74 

Morrison,  Colonel  W.  R.,  58 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  cited,  298 

Morton,  Oliver  P.,  55 

Mosby,  General,  30 

Mt.  Vincent,  229 

Mucciola,  Count,  157 

Murray,  Oscar  G.,  245 

Myer's  Mill,  188 

Nashville,  278 

Naylor,  Roy  B.,  tribute  of,  to  Mr. 
Davis,  quoted,  205 

New  Mexico,  58 

New  Orleans :  Mr.  Davis  quoted  on 
taxes  in,  278 

New  York:  8;  attitude  of  Balti 
more  toward,  at  beginning  of 
Nineteenth  Century,  8,  195,  279, 

293 
North  American  Review,  article  by 

Mr.  Davis  in,  on   Pan-American 

Railway,  quoted,  130-132 
Norwood,  Senator,  65 
Nye,  Senator,  66 

Odd  Fellows :  180 ;  Mr.  Davis'  gifts 

tO,    220,    295,   296 

Oglesby,  Richard  J.,  59 

Ohio,  9,  187,  203,  249-2-52 

Oil,  194 

Ordinance  of  Secession,  29 

Orla,  Colonel  Francisco,  114 

Otter  Creek,  190 

Owen,  Senator,  247 

Pan-American  Conferences,  105- 
120,  135,  186,  273 


316 


INDEX 


Pan- American  Railway,  121-135, 
238,  273 

Pan-American  Railway  Committee, 

126  et  seq.,  181 
Panic  of  i$73,  61  et  seq. 

Pardo,  Emilio,  115 

Paris,  277,  306 

Parker,  Judge  Alton  B. :  before 
Democratic  National  Convention 
of  1904,  168  et  seq.;  gold  tele 
gram  of,  174,  247,  306 

Parkersburg,  48,  49,  220 

Parkersburg  Convention,  150 

Parsons,  Richard  A.,  122,  302 

Pena,  Senor  Roque  Saenz,  107 

Pendleton,  George  H. :  76,  243; 
quoted  on  factional  politics,  252 

Pennsylvania,  203 

Pennsylvania  Railway  system,  104, 
124 

Pepper,  Charles  M.:  in;  activities 
of,  as  Pan-American  Commis 
sioner,  127  et  seq. 

Pereira,  Jose  Hygeni  Duarte,  113 

Peshens,  Mr.,  190 

Pettus,  Senator,  181 

Philadelphia,  8,  195 

Philippi,  celebration  of  first  battle 
of,  202-204 

Philippines,  attitude  of  Mr.  Davis 
toward,  policy,  237 

Piedmont,  26,  185,  211 

Piedmont  and  Cumberland  Rail 
way,  185 

Piedmont  and  Potomac  Railway, 
92 

Pineda,  Rosendo,  115 

Platt,  Thomas  C,  58 

Polk,  James  K.,  21 

Portilla,  Jose  Lopez,  116 

Porto  Rico,  240 

Potomac  and  Piedmont  Coal  and 
Railway  Company,  39,  40 

Powell,  Reverend  W.  E.,  letter  of, 
quoted,  215 

Pratt,  Enoch,  244 

Price,  George  E.,  218,  219 

Prussia,  306 

Puck,  256 

Pullman,  George  M.,  124 

Putnam,  Herbert:  poem,  "West 
Virginia,"  by,  quoted,  208,  209 


Queen's  Coal  and  Coke  Company, 
185 


Ragiosa,  Genaro,  115,  118 
Railroads:   motive  power  of  early 

American,    n,    12;    pioneer    days 

of,  17-33 

"Railway  dinners,"  244-247 
Ramsey,  Joseph,  191 
Randall,  Nathan,  5 
Randall,  Samuel  J. :  55,  74;  letter 

of,  257 

Randall,  Sarah,  5 

Randolph  County,  187,  189,  192 

Ransom,  Matthew  W.,  55 

Rayes,  General  Rafael,  113 

Raymond  City,  202" 

Reading  Railroad,  245 

Rebellion.    See  Civil  War 

Reed,  Thomas  B.,  74 

Revolution,  203 

Reyes,  Francisco  A.,  114,  116,  117 

Richmond  Convention,  29 

Rio  Conference  (Third  Interna 
tional  American),  132  et  seq. 

Roaring  Creek,  188,  189 

Robb,  Mr.,  189,  190 

Roberts,  George  B. :  Mr.  Davis'  es 
timate  of,  244 

Romero,  Senor  Matias,  106 

Romney,  29 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  180,  184,  306 

Ross,   Lord,   expedition,  7 

Rowles,  Sarah,  7 

Sago,  189,  190,  191 

Salt  Lake  City,  277 

Samoa,  229 

Sampson,  Admiral,  240 

Sand  Run,  189 

Santiago,  Chile  (Fifth  International 

American)  Conference,  135 
Sawmills,   the   Davis,   in   Piedmont 

Valley,  27,  28 

Schoonmaker,  James  M.,  246,  247 
Schurz,  Carl,  56,  233 
Scott,  Crawford,  188 
Scott,  I.  K.,  188 
Scott,  Nathan  B.,  150 
Scott,  W.  L.,  138 
Sedan,  306 


INDEX 


317 


Semi-Centennial     of     West     Vir-^ 

ginia's  Statehood,  196,  202 
"Semi-Centennial  History  of  West 

Virginia,"  by  James  Morton  Cal- 

lahan,  quoted,  91,  101,  103 
Seymour,  Horatio,  40,  78 
Shaw,  Major  Alexander,  98 
Sherman,  John,  55,  57,  233 
Silva,  Carlos  Martinez,  113 
Silver,  remonetization  of,  75  et  seq. 
Sissonville,  49 
Smith,  Colonel  B.  H.,  51 
Smith,  Clay,  42 
Spanish-American    War,    237,    239, 

240,  306.    See  also  Cuban  War 
Spencer,  Samuel,  245 
Speyer,  James,  245 
Sprague,  William,  300 
State  Bankers'  Association,  200 
Steam,  introduction  of,   as  motive 

power    of    railroads    in    United 

States,  II,  12 

Steever,  Captain  E.  Z.,  125 
Stephenson,  George,  9,  Zo 
Stevenson,  William  E.,  43,  46,  197 
St.  Louis  Convention  of  1888,  142 
Strike     (railway)     of     1877,     Mr. 

Davis'  story  of,  242 
Studebaker,  Clement,  107 
Sumner,  Charles:  55;  death  of,  59 
Sutton,  188,  190 
Swann,   Thomas :    quoted,    19,    20 ; 

presents  Mr.  Davis  to  President 

Lincoln,  31-33;  55 
Switzerland,  277 

Tallahassee,  278 

Teller,  Henry  M.,  74 

Texas,  22 

Thomas,  Evan,  9,  II 

Thomas,  P.  K,  9 

Thompson,  John  K.,  202 

Thomson,  Frank,  244 

"Three    American    Railways,"    by 

Hinton  Rowan  Helper,  cited,  122 
Thurman,    Allen    G. :    55,    56,    142", 

232,  233;  letters  of,  quoted,  249, 

250  et  seq.,  251 
Tilden,  Samuel  J. :  campaign  of,  69, 

71 ;  257 

Timberlands,   development   of,   27- 
33,  passim;  192 


Trenton,  U.  S.  S.,  229 

Trescott,  William  Henry,  107 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  55,  56 

Trust  Company  of  West  Virginia, 

185 

Tucker  County,  187 
"Twenty   Years    of    Congress,"   by 

James    G.    Blaine,    quoted,    89; 

cited  on  Mr.  Davis,  235 
Tygart's  Valley,  192 

Underwood,  Frederick,  246 

Underwood,  Oscar,  247 

Union-Conservatives,  36,  38 

Union  Pacific  Railroad,  30 

Uniontown,  188 

United  States:  part  played  by 
Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Road  in 
development  of,  9  et  seq. 

United  States  Bank,  201 

Upshur  County,  189,  192 

Valley  Coal  and  Coke  Company, 
185 

Vance,  J.  S.,  40 

Vanderlip,  Frank  A.,  133 

Velarde,  Senor  de,  no 

Venice  Bank,  201 

Vest,  George  G.,  76 

Victoria,  Queen,  306 

Virginia:  Legislature  and  the  Bal 
timore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  25,  26; 
debt  between,  and  West  Virginia, 
45;  loss  of  territory  by,  in  Civil 
War,  203 

Voorhees,  Daniel  W.,  73 

Wabash  Railroad,  186,  191 

Wages,  attitude  of  Mr.  Davis  to 
ward  employees',  194 

Walkersville,  192 

Warfield,  Edwin,  200 

Washington,  7,  22,  209,  293,  276, 
306 

Washington  Coal  and  Coke  Com 
pany,  185 

Washington,  George,  32,  203,  286 

Washington  Star,  quoted  on  Mr. 
Davis*  position  on  tariff,  183 

Watkins,  Dr.,  223 

Waverly,  estate  of  Governor  How 
ard,  15-18,  passim 


INDEX 


Webster,  Daniel,  22 

Weed,  Smith,  138 

Weitzel  County,  43 

Weston,  188 

Western  Maryland  Railroad,  186 

West  Virginia:  birth  of  State  of, 
34  et  seq.;  action  of,  Legislature 
on  disfranchisement  of  ex-Con 
federates,  27  et  seq.;  debt  be 
tween  Virginia  and,  45;  war 
claims,  59-61;  waterways,  65,  66; 
railways  in,  90-104;  development 
of,  coal  resources  by  Mr.  Davis, 
187;  semi-centennial  of,  196; 
recognition  of  Mr.  Davis'  services 
to  State  of,  197  et  seq.,  202"  et 
seq.;  Board  of  Trade,  199,  200, 
294;  Mr.  Davis'  review  of  moral 
and  material  development  of,  206 
et  seq.;  Mr.  Davis'  political  posi 
tion  in,  258 

"West  Virginia,"  poem  by  Herbert 
Putnam,  quoted,  208,  209 

West  Virginia  Bankers'  Associa 
tion,  294 

West  Virginia  Central  Railway,  92, 
103,  185,  193,  195,  302 

West  Virginia  Immigration  and 
Development  Association,  198 

West  Virginia  University,  46 

Wheeler,  Vice-President,  236 

Wheeling:  23,  26,  48,  204;  celebra 
tion  of  Semi-Centennial  of  State 
at,  196,  197,  202  et  seq. 


Wheeling  Intelligencer,  tribute  of, 
to  Mr.  Davis,  199,  305 

Wheeling  Register,  letter  of  Mr. 
Davis  to,  refusing  gubernatorial 
nomination,  quoted,  143,  144,  147, 
199 

White,  Governor  A.  B. :  letter  of, 
quoted,  201 ;  202 

Whitney,  William  C,  141 

Whyte,  William  Pinckney,  67,  97, 
178,  182 

Wildey,  Thomas,  295 

Wiley,  Waitman  T.,  51 

Willard,  Daniel,  Mr.  Davis'  esti 
mate  of,  246,  247 

Williams,  John  Cassell,  112 

Williams,  John  Sharp,  170;  speech 
of,  176 

Williams,  L.  J.,  202 

Wilson,  William  L.,  139,  146,  243, 
259;  letters  of,  259,  260 

Wilson,  Dr.  W.  P.,  112 

Wilson,  President,  135,  184 

Winans,  Ross,  12 

Winchester,  29 

Windom,  William:  65,  97,  233;  Mr. 
Davis  quoted  on  death  of,  234, 
243 ;  letters  from,  252  et  seq.;  257 

Woodside,  Dr.,  18 

Woodstock,  7,  31,  222,  223,  302 

World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  278,  279 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa 
tion:  181,  220;  Mr.  Davis'  views 
on,  2*20,  221 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
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This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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